No Right Answers
by Polsar
Summary: When Judy Hopps makes an embarrassing mistake, she must rely on the support of a fox she's only just met. A plot unfolds that will impact the entire city. But how long can you hold onto a grudge? And is revenge worth sacrificing the only true happiness you have left?
1. Chapter 1

Nicholas Piberius Wilde. That was the name his mother had given him, though most people just called him Mr. Wilde. A few close friends knew him as Nick.

Nick was a professional problem solver. He had no credentials to back up that claim, but that's what he was employed for.

He was on his way home from solving a particularly nasty problem, when…

"Someone, please, help me!"

The scream stopped Nick in his tracks.

He drew his hands out of the pockets of his suit coat. It was 2:00 in the morning, in a decidedly rough neighborhood. It wasn't the most pleasant place during the day, and often became deadly at night.

Were it not for a critical business deal that required his direct involvement, Nick wouldn't even be in this part of the city, much less at 2:00 AM. However, people who refuse to cooperate are a specialty for Nick and his silver tongue.

Normally, Nick would have been satisfied to simply call in an anonymous tip to the ZPD. Let them know he'd heard something suspicious, and not think twice about it. He didn't like to get his hands dirty if he could avoid it, but he wasn't a monster.

But these were streets the ZPD was known to have a weak presence in. In a city as large as Zootopia, resources needed to be allocated according to a priority basis. And the slums were very low on that list.

"P-please, someone…"

Nick had not noticed earlier, but he was closer now. The voice was a little girl's.

 _Nope._ He thought. _Can't let that one slide._

Nick reached into his coat, and drew out a small metal rod. Snapping his arm out quickly, the baton extended to nearly the length of his arm.

Nick quickly hopped the fence from behind which he had heard the voice. The scene before him turned his stomach.

Behind an old abandoned warehouse, a ram, bear, and hyena were standing next to a large white van. The kind that always looks creepy and dangerous because it doesn't have any windows. The bear was holding a young elk girl still while the hyena tied her up and duct taped her mouth shut.

"Quit yer bawlin girly!" the hyena cackled. "Ain't no one on these streets this late. 'Sides, we promise, in the mornin', you ain't even gonna remember this place."

The girl was weeping, tears streaming down her face. She had seemed like she was going limp in the bear's grip, but when she saw Nick, her struggling redoubled. Her eyes connected with his, begging him to help her.

"Put her down," the fox said, announcing his presence.

The bear turned to look at him. "Guess you were wrong Dink," he rumbled, "we got us a fox here."

The hyena snapped around to look at Nick. "Oh, oh oh, oh oh oh oh ohohohohohohohohohohoho!" he began his insane cackling again, "This is rich! Just richity rich RICH!" The hyena's head fell back as he let out a wheezing laugh. When his head came back down he turned his head to fix Nick with a single eye. "What you want, foxy boy? You want in on our score? You want her for yourself? Tough! We worked hard pickin these little baubles outta this rat-bag neighborhood, and they're gonna turn us a tidy profit!" The hyena whipped his head around to the ram, who was standing just inside the back doors of the van. "Ain't no fox hornin' in on our business! Not even one with a stick, wearin a suit! Franky! Nail 'im!"

The ram said nothing as he hopped down and levelled his head at Nick, who made no move to evade him. The ram charged straight for him.

Nick did not like getting his hands dirty. He didn't like hurting anyone. That didn't mean he couldn't defend himself.

The hyena and bear returned to their task, assuming the fox would be dealt with. But a few seconds later, as the bear placed the elk in the back of the van, there was a sickening crack, quickly followed by a thud.

As the pair turned, they saw Franky lying unconscious in the dirt, his head bleeding slightly, one horn cracked, and the other broken off.

The hyena gritted his teeth. "Johnny, how about you teach this fox what happens when you rough up one of our boys," he ground out. "Heh, it'd be my pleasure," the bear rumbled back.

As the hyena closed the doors and went to start the car, the bear lumbered over towards Nick.

"You hurt my pal. You should'na did that." The bear grinned.

As the bear walked up, he raised a claw to rip the massively out-muscled fox apart.

Just before the bear swung, he felt something poke him in the gut. He looked down to see the fox's stick pressed against his stomach.

"And you should be more careful about letting your guard down." Nick said, a smile creeping up his muzzle. Nick flicked a small red switch on the side of his baton, and the bear began to spasm as several thousand volts of electricity were sent coursing through his body.

As Nick released the switch, the bear collapsed to the ground with a strangled grunt.

Looking at Nick in that moment, you'd have thought he felt like the king of the world.

You could be forgiven for believing that.

The smug grin Nick was wearing at that moment was doing an excellent job of hiding his staggering fear of the situation he found himself in. A ram had charged him head on, and he had been completely unable to move. He had desperately willed his legs to hurl himself out of the way, to turn and run, to do literally anything. In the end, muscle memory had whipped his arm out at the perfect moment to catch the ram across the face, cracking both his skull and his horns, rendering him unconscious.

When the bear approached, Nick had frozen once again. Despite how fervently he wished to be anywhere other than in this filthy back lot, facing down a bear with a grudge, he hadn't been able to do anything other than stare at what he was sure would be his death. The bear had been so focused on Nick's face that he hadn't noticed the paw bringing the baton up between them. When the bear actually paused to look at the baton, Nick could have fainted with joy. The hidden taser in his baton was quite powerful, but only worked through physical contact, and had an incredibly small battery life. In other words, it was pretty much a one-shot trick.

The fact that it had worked nearly made Nick want to cry with relief.

As the knife caught the nearby light of a street lamp, Nick was reminded suddenly that there was a third member to this group he'd stepped in on. They hyena apparently wasn't of a mind to let this go, and clearly meant to accomplish what his larger partners had intended. The over-zealous swing nearly caught Nick right across his stomach. Nick's surprise had finally allowed him to move from the spot that fear had rooted him to, so the hyena's blade was only able to slice open his shirt.

The hyena began tossing the knife between his paws as he squared off against the fox.

"Whatsa matter foxy? No more fight left in you? Don't you worry now boy, I know plenty of people who'll pay good money for a fox pelt, even a sliced up one. You'll more than cover my boy's med bills!"

The hyena tilted his head back again to let out a maniacal laugh. As he did so, Nick brought his baton down squarely on the hyena's head.

The laughter promptly died in the thug's throat as he crumpled to the ground in a small heap.

Leaving Nick alone in the lot.

Nick dropped his baton and very nearly began to hyperventilate.

 _What was I thinking!?_ He asked himself.

 _That was idiotic! Insane! Suicidal! I could have gotten myself killed! I could-_

A muffled cry brought Nick out of his thoughts.

The girl, she was still in the back of the running van.

 _Right. That's why._

Nick composed himself, not wanting her to see her rescuer for the wreck he currently was. This child had been through enough trauma. Nick could put his own freak-out on hold long enough to see her to safety.

"Now don't you worry sweetheart, your pal Nick isn't going to let anyone hur-" his words trailed off as he rounded the back doors.

Eight pairs of young, tear-filled eyes looked to him, filled with fear and hope. All of them belonging to young girls of varying ages.

Nick swallowed before he spoke again.

"It's okay," he said, much more softly, "I'm going to get you all out of here."

He pulled a small pocket multi-tool from his back pocket, flipped out the saw-toothed blade, and began to cut the girls' bindings one by one, starting with the young elk.

As he started on the next one, a tigress teen, the young elk wrapped herself around Nick's leg and began bawling loudly. She nearly caused Nick to lose his footing, which cause him to pull the young tigress out of the van as he stumbled backwards.

As he regained his balance, the young tigress held under his right arm, his pocket knife's saw-toothed blade upright in his left paw, and a bawling elk child grasping his left leg, he looked up to see the bunny with a taser aim directly at him.

A moment passed, as the two stared at one another. The fox's face still a mask, meant to convey calm to the girls, the bunny's face hardened with anger and disgust.

"Would you believe this isn't what it looks like?" Nick ventured.

Dropping both the knife and the tigress, he convulsed with the pain of electricity setting his veins on fire.

 _I thought not._ He thought to himself as he faded into unconsciousness.


	2. Chapter 2

Judy Hopps had been an official officer of the ZPD for just over 3 months now. She had made incredible strides during that time, and many of her fellow officers had finally begun to see more than just a country bunny with delusions of grandeur when they looked down at her. In fact, many had finally begun **not** to look down on her (in the metaphorical sense).

She had volunteered for night patrol in the slums because it was a historically nasty part of town. Many police had come back from this particular shift rotation needing psych evals or vacation time. A lot of officers went out of their way to avoid ever being stuck with it, if they could manage to.

And so, Judy had seen it as an opportunity to prove herself.

The night had been mostly quiet. Her shift was almost over when she heard someone laughing several blocks away. Another officer might have missed it, but her incredible hearing picked it up clearly through the night air.

She had immediately set out to investigate, eschewing her patrol vehicle to approach on foot instead. The night was too quiet for the SUV's tires and engine to go unnoticed, and Judy did not want to give whoever was making that terrifying sound a warning that a police officer was checking in on them.

As Judy got closer, she was able to hear the sounds of a fight taking place. A fight in the slums at 2:00AM. That could very easily turn into a murder, and Judy knew it.

She heard the insidious cackling once again.

She bounded towards the gate that encircled the back lot of the abandoned warehouse.

Sprinting through the already open gate, she quickly surveyed the scene.

A fox was holding a tigress under his arm. She was bound and gagged, and couldn't be more than 13. A young elk was clinging to his leg, clearly having been dragged through the dirt towards the van he was standing behind.

He was holding a saw-toothed knife in his paw.

Judy's ears then swiveled towards the van, as she could hear the muffled sobs of several other young girls inside.

She glared at the fox, anger and disgust welling inside her.

He never lost that smug grin. As though this was all perfectly normal, and she was intruding.

He had the gall to try and lie to her.

"Would you believe this isn't what it looks like?" He asked, his smile never leaving.

She gave him the only answer she felt appropriate, and tased him until he dropped.

Letting her taser fall to the ground, Judy set to freeing the tigress whilst trying to console the young Elk, both of whom were staring at her with wide eyes.

"Don't worry, I've got you. You're all safe now. I'll make sure you all get home just fine." Judy said.

 _My first real arrest, and it's a rescue too!,_ Judy thought, _This is great!_

 _..._

"This is awful." Bogo said, rubbing the space between his eyes with his thumb and forefinger. He removed his reading glasses slowly. "Do you know who called me this morning? Mr. Big."

Judy's eyes widened.

"Not a secretary. Not a partner. Not a message left, or a note delivered. No. Mr. Big himself called, and asked to speak with me directly. He wanted a very clear understanding of this…incident."

Almost everyone in Zootopia knew who Mr. Big was. One of the most powerful mammals in the city, despite his small stature.

Once upon a time, everyone had quietly known that Mr. Big was a mob boss that ruled Tundra Town. He had had his paws in dozens if not hundreds of crimes committed throughout the city, but no one could ever connect anything to him. Then, one day, he seemingly vanished. No one heard from the shrew, his family, or anyone who associated with him in any significant way for seven years. Then he suddenly comes back a legitimate business man.

Every crime ever committed by his old organization was solved and the cases closed, every perpetrator willingly coming to the police and making a full confession. Nothing remained that could ever be tied to Mr. Big himself. No one implicated him, or tried to pin anything on him. None of the criminals even seemed perturbed that they were going to prison.

And now Mr. Big was a respected member of the city council. He still got whatever he wanted done, but now only through legally legitimate means.

And he cared enough about this fox to personally call Judy's boss.

Judy very much wanted the ground to open up and swallow her at that moment.

"Hopps!" The buffalo snapped.

Judy's head whipped up as she realized her attention had drifted.

"This debacle is already bad enough if the media gets wind of it. The mayor is working hard to crack down on specism, and I imagine he would hate to hear his prized bunny cop tased a fox that had just single-handedly rescued eight young girls, because he was a fox and that made him suspicious."

Judy swallowed. "But chief," she began.

"Nope, don't care." The chief said, waving his hoof and cutting her off.

Leaning over his desk slightly, he pointed directly at her. "You are going to march down to the hospital and formally apologize to Mr. Wilde. You had better do everything in your power to make him like you, because I can tell you right now that you need him to."

Judy looked up at her chief, the question clear in her eyes but her mouth not working.

Bogo sighed and sat back, Rubbing the space between his eyes once again.

"Big wants your badge." He stated.

Judy's jaw dropped, fear clutching her chest.

"I don't know what this fox is to a city council member, but Big made it very clear that if he wasn't willing to let this go, then neither would Big." The buffalo looked down at her, the barest wisp of softness coming into his hard voice. "You're a fine officer Hopps, but I can only protect you from so much. You need this fox to not hold a grudge."

He drew himself up, putting his glasses back on. His voice took on the tone of a teacher stating unimpugnable facts. "As it currently stands, you're on administrative leave pending the decision of whether this incident warrants further investigation or corrective action."

Judy opened her mouth to protest.

"Two weeks, Hopps. No arguments. Dismissed."

Judy's ears went limp. The rest of her followed suit as she climbed out of the chair and walked to the door.

As she opened it though, she drew herself back up, and snapped a crisp salute before walking calmly out of the buffalo's office.

When he was sure she wouldn't be able to hear, he quietly whispered, "Good luck, Hopps."


	3. Chapter 3

Judy stepped off the elevator and into the lobby of the in-patient ward.

She immediately regretted not changing out of her uniform.

The young tigress from last night, Diana, was getting a soda from the vending machine. She had glanced at the elevator when it had opened, and was now openly glaring at Judy.

 _One problem at a time._ Judy sighed to herself.

But as Judy walked towards the hall that had Mr. Wilde's room, she could hear the tigress following a few feet behind her.

Judy thought back to last night.

As she finished untying her, the tigress stood up and shoved Judy away from her.

"Why did you do that!?" The tigress screamed, kneeling down next to the fox. She reached her paws out, then stopped as she noticed a pool of red underneath him.

"He's bleeding!" The tigress screeched. "He saved us! How could you!?"

It had taken precious moments for Judy to convince the tigress to let her near the unconscious fox. As Judy carefully rolled him over, she found his saw-toothed blade lodged in the lower left side of his back.

 _He must have fallen on it somehow._ Judy thought, as she radioed for an ambulance.

After giving them the address, she asked the tigress to keep pressure on the wound while Judy helped the other girls.

"Aren't you going to take the knife out?" The tigress asked, venom in her voice.

"No," Judy said, "Right now that would do him more harm than good. It's stemming the flow of blood, and we might make his wound worse as we take it out."

The tigress growled slightly, but then turned her full attention back to the fox.

As Judy produced her own small knife and began freeing the other girls, she heard a small sniffle behind her. The young elk was holding one of the fox's paws stroking it carefully.

"He'll be okay," Judy affirmed. "An ambulance is on the way for him, and backup is coming for the other three."

"His name is Nick." The elk said, so quietly only Judy and the tigress could hear. "He saved us."

When the ambulance had come, the EMTs took the young elk with them, as she staunchly refused to be separated from the fo-Nick.

As soon as additional cars had arrived to take the girls home, they had all demanded to be taken to the hospital instead.

They had all been extremely defensive of him. The tigress especially so.

Five of the girls had been tearfully reunited with their parents. Two were safely returned to the orphanages they lived at.

But the tigress had refused to give any information about her parents or where she lived. The doctors had not been able to convince her to leave Nick's room, so she had slept there last night. And the officer assigned to watch her had not been able to convince her to say more than two words to him all morning. There was a social worker scheduled to arrive later today to speak with her, and hopefully either track down her parents or find her a place to sleep that wasn't a hospital chair.

Judy reached the door to Mr. Wilde's room and gathered herself, running over in her mind what she wanted to say.

As she reached for the door, she heard a faint growl from the tigress, as though Diana were warning her not to hurt Nick again.

Judy knocked.

"Come in." A sing-song voice called back.

As Judy opened the door, she opened her mouth to speak, but found her voice failing for the second time that day.

Mr. Wilde's room was filled with flowers, thank-you and get-well-soon cards, and more than a few crayon drawings of him doing all sorts of amazing things. The most prominent of which was him fighting bad guys and rescuing innocent mammals.

"Ahh, officer Hopps, how good to see you." The fox said from his hospital bed, that same grin from last night blooming onto his face.

Judy cleared her throat. "Mr. Wilde, I-"

"Please, Nick is fine." He said, cutting her off.

"Well, um, Nick, I just wanted to come by and talk to you about last night."

"Hmm? What about it?" He asked, as though he had no idea what Judy was talking about.

"Are you kidding!" Diana interjected. "She tased you, and got you stabbed! After you rescued us! You could have died Nick!"

Judy wanted to argue her case, but she hadn't been prepared to deal with the tigress. Diana reallly shouldn't be in Mr. Wil—Nick's room at all. But since they had nowhere to take her, and Nick never asked for her to leave, no one really knew what else to do but let her stay.

Judy was by no means weak-willed or easily cowed, but she had no idea how to have a conversation with a kidnapping victim whose rescuer she had gone out of her way to injure. Granted, it was a misunderstanding, but still.

Thankfully, Nick decided to step in and rescue her.

"Now now, D," he gently chided, "I'm sure that Ms. Hopps is here with only the best of intentions. In fact, do you think you could give us a moment to talk in private?" The tigress began to sputter, clearly about to argue, when Nick batted his eyelashes while making puppy-dog eyes at her and asked, "Pwetty pwease?" in the same sing-song voice he'd answered the knock with.

The tigress desperately fought not to smile at him. She wanted so badly to hold on to her anger towards the bunny. But it was clear it was a losing battle.

"Fine." She said, with more cheer than she wanted to come through, and walked out the door, closing it behind her.

"Now then officer, what can I do for you?" The fox asked, returning his attention to Judy. "If you're looking for a description of the guy who roughed me up last night, I'm sorry, but I had these two beautiful girls practically hanging off of me and my attention was very focused on them."

If Judy had not known exactly what had transpired last night, she would have dismissed the fox as a sleazy creep based on his tone and choice of words just now. She might have slapped him for good measure.

Thinking that only made her feel worse though. As it was exactly that kind of thinking that had led her to tase a mammal in the midst of doing a good deed.

"Mr. Wi—ah, Nick, I came here to apologize to you for, um, tasing you. And dropping you onto your knife. While you were rescuing eight young girls. After you had just fought three criminals. In a back lot. At 2:00AM. Alone."

With every word out of her mouth, Judy felt herself shrinking more and more, and her voice became quieter and quieter. Her ears fell behind her head, she began sheepishly rubbing her arm, and she had to look away, unable to look Nick in the eye.

"No worries." He said, resting his hands behind his head.

Judy blinked.

"Um, what?" was all she could manage.

"Don't worry about it. It's fine." Nick said, eyes closed, looking perfectly comfortable resting against his stack of pillows.

Judy was astounded. How could he just let this go?

For a moment, she was ready to hop up, thank him profusely, and go tell Bogo everything was fine.

Then she remembered Bogo's words to her: "You had better do everything in your power to make him like you, because I can tell you right now that you need him to."

Mr. Big had wanted her fired over this. And he was a mammal with enough pull to make that happen. She needed Nick to specifically **not** want that.

She took a deep breath before speaking again.

"Nick, please, I really feel terrible about this. I appreciate you being willing to forgive me so easily, but I want you to know that I genuinely regret what happened last night. You were doing a good thing. Those girls might never have seen their families again if you hadn't stepped in." She looked down. "And I came running in and assumed you were the one trying to kidnap them." She lifted her head back up and forced herself to look him in the eye. "I hurt you when you were doing the right thing. I can't imagine how that must have felt. I don't want you to think that just because you're a fox, people can't see the good in you. You shouldn't be lying in a hospital bed right now. You should be able to take pride in helping those girls and their families. You're a hero! I want you to understand how much I appreciate what you did. Please, let me make this right. I'll do anything."

The fox's eyebrows quirked at the end of her monologue.

"Anything?" He asked, his gaze much more intent than it had been before.

Judy suddenly felt very much like a worm who had poked its head out of the ground in front of a hungry bird.

But she swallowed as quietly as she could, and said, "Yes, anything."

There was a deafening silence.


	4. Chapter 4

Nick had lived in Zootopia all of his life. He was born and raised in the slums by his mother. His father had passed away before Nick had been old enough to really remember him. The pictures his mother kept of the senior Mr. Wilde were only vaguely familiar to Nick, like looking at a foggy memory. But his mother always enjoyed telling him stories about his father, and how he always sought to help people every chance he could. It had inspired Nick at an early age to try and follow in his father's footsteps. Nick had worked hard to be the most helpful fox the world had ever seen.

He soon learned the hard way that the world would never see him that way.

When he tried to help old ladies across the street, they hit him with their purse. When he picked things up to return them to the people who dropped them, they accused him of trying to steal from them. When he offered any favors to anyone, they refused him, thinking he was trying to manipulate them into owing him a favor down the line.

But Nick persevered.

Every day, Nick came home to his mother and told her about the people he had tried to help. And she never once chided him. She never told him that it was dangerous for a fox to put themselves out there so much, to draw such attention to themselves.

No, his mother was always proud of him. Always smiled at him so warmly, and thanked him for seeing the best in people, even when they assumed the worst from him.

"Oh my darling Nicky," she would say, "you remind me so much of your father. No matter how rude people were to him, he would always meet them with a smile and a kind word, and help them whether they liked it or not."

It was these moments that gave Nick the strength he needed to keep trying to be the best most helpful fox he could be.

Until one day, he came home, and there were no kind words. There was—

"Please, let me make this right. I'll do anything." The bunny said.

Nick's mind had drifted during her monologue. He had tried to dismiss her early on, let her know he didn't hold a grudge.

And honestly, he didn't. If he'd found another fox in the exact same situation, he might have tased them too. Of course, being a fox, he also might have bothered to take a look around, maybe ask a few questions, but hey, no one's thinking too clearly at 2:00AM. Except for him apparently. And the three thugs. And the eight girls.

But it didn't matter. Nick already didn't like her.

Not because of what she had done. No, Nick just didn't like anyone. Made things easier. Simpler.

He just wanted to move on. Get back to business.

He didn't like police. They always complicated things.

Like now for instance.

Nick was sure he could smooth talk his way out of this hospital right now, if this bunny would just leave him alone.

But no. She was bound and determined to build bridges today.

So Nick had been thinking about other ways to convince her to leave, while she yammered on.

And then she had gone and done something no one had done to Nick in years.

She had spoken to him with clear and honest kindness.

That was cheating.

Nick had almost gotten carried away in it. Almost.

But now he had a hook.

She said **anything**. And she was just guilty enough to have probably meant it.

Nick decided to test it.

"Anything?" He asked, focusing on her in earnest now.

The rabbit seemed to shrink. He saw a glint of fear in her eyes.

She swallowed before replying, "Yes, anything."

If she could have heard the laughter in Nick's head, she might have fled the room right then.

 _Well, might as well yank her chain a bit. Give her something to chew on, then turn her loose so she'll feel encouraged to get out while she can._

Nick let the silence draw out agonizingly, savoring how she tried not to squirm under his gaze.

He waited until she opened her mouth to say something, then hit her with the hardest blow he could think of.

"How about a date?"

Said as smoothly as if he was asking her if she thought it would rain today.

His grin broadened as it had the desired effect on her.

The rabbit seemed to go rigid. Her ears standing straight up. Her gaze locked forward. The only part of her body that was moving at all was her furiously twitching nose.

Nick imagined if he had her ears he would probably hear her heart hammering in her chest.

He found it incredibly adorable the way she started chewing her lip.

He waited until the blush in her cheeks stopped growing.

He was going to see if he could push it any further before he let her go.

He slowly turned himself and eased out of the hospital bed, and stood up.

In his open-backed hospital gown.

He heard a desperately stifled squeak as he walked to the window, making absolutely no effort to conceal anything underneath the gown. His tail swished back and forth in delight.

"But seriously Hopps, I'm not-"

"When?"

Nick felt ice run through his veins.

 _It's a bluff. It has to be a bluff. She cannot be taking this seriously._

Nick turned around and saw her standing straight, looking him square in the eye.

He enjoyed noting that he had in fact been able to push her blush even further.

But he noticed the slight tremor in her arms.

The wide deer-in-the-headlights eyes that she fought to keep focused on him.

The foot she was working hard not to tap.

 _She wants to play chicken, huh? Alright bunny, let's play._

"Three days from now. Friday." He said, resting his elbows against the windowsill and leaning back, summoning his patented grin to his face.

"What time?"

 _You can't win this bunny._

"Eight o'clock."

"Where?"

 _Stop this._

"The Elysium."

She choked a bit on that.

The Elysium was undoubtedly one of the most expensive restaurants in Zootopia.

It was also where you took your significant other to propose. They even had special discount they offered if you were planning to propose there. And an even greater discount if you got rejected.

The Elysium was widely considered throughout Zootopia to be the signature 'wine and dine' restaurant. Getting a reservation often took weeks of planning ahead. Months if you wanted a reservation during Valentine's Day.

And Nick had tossed it out as though suggesting they go to the park.

He saw her falter. He pressed his advantage.

"I imagine you'll need a dress. Something that would fit the aesthetic." He stood up, and did his best hungry leer. "I'd be delighted to help you shop for one."

She took an involuntary step back, and looked away.

 _That's right. This isn't worth it bunny. Let it go._

She drew in a shuddering breath. But when she exhaled it was solid and controlled.

 _No._

She turned her eyes back to him.

 _No no no._

He saw the determination growing in them.

 _NO!_

She took a step forward.

 _No no no no no no nononononononononono!_

"Here's my number," she said pulling out a card that had her contact information at the ZPD on it. Along with her cell phone number.

"Text me and I'll let you know where to pick me up from."

 _Great. Just great_. He thought, looking down at the card.

When he looked up, she was walking to the door.

"And by the way," she said as she reached for the door handle.

She looked over her shoulder and said, "I think you'll be pleasantly surprised by what my wardrobe has to offer."

He could see through her façade of bravado easily. It was clear she was putting on a brave face.

And yet.

Were he a weaker mammal, the smile she gave him then would have turned his legs to jelly.

Then she stepped out and closed the door behind her.

 _Well._ Nick thought to himself.

 _Crap._


	5. Chapter 5

Judy backed against the wall next to Nick's door, her arms splayed out and pressed firmly against the wall her back was stuck to.

 _What just happened?_ _What actually just happened in there?_

Judy couldn't process the chain of events that had just taken place.

The fox she had wrongfully tased, and gotten stabbed by his own knife, literally last night, had just asked her out on a date. At the fanciest restaurant in the city.

And she had flirted with him.

Or tried to anyway.

She pushed herself up off the wall and began numbly walking to the elevator, replaying the conversation in her mind.

Why did Nick ask her out?

Why did he want to take her to The Elysium?

Why had she agreed?

As Judy began to gather herself, she realized that Diana was walking next to her, still drinking her soda.

Judy opened her mouth to ask her what she was doing, and Diana took a long loud slurp, drawing it out until Judy closed her mouth again.

Judy waited a few seconds, then started to say something once again.

"He could do so much better." Diana interrupted, crossing her free arm across her chest.

Judy bristled at that.

She tried to speak again.

"And let's be honest here, you were totally lying about having a dress." Diana cut her off again, then taking another sip of her drink.

The elevator arrived.

As its occupants disembarked, Judy was finally able to get a word in.

"Just because I'm a police officer doesn't mean I don't own something nice." She said, sounding far more petulant than she wanted to right now. How was this teenager getting under her skin?

Judy stepped into the elevator as Diana answered, "Yeah, well, I guess we'll see."

As the elevator doors closed, a wicked grin grew on Diana's face. "Unless he cancels on you." She said menacingly.

The doors closed before Judy could respond.

Judy slumped against the wall of the elevator and placed her hands on her face as she sighed.

This whole situation was such a mess. Going on a date with someone she'd put in the hospital? She was so bent on trying to make amends with him that she hadn't taken a moment to consider how utterly ridiculous that was.

Still, she couldn't afford to back out. If Nick wasn't in her court, she would be facing Mr. Big's ire on her own. Despite everything she knew she was capable of, that was a battle she didn't have the strength to win.

As the elevator opened, she reached a decision.

 _There's no sense worrying about this. I have an opportunity to show him a better side of me, and I'm going to use it. I'm just going to need a little help pulling this off…_

Walking out of the front doors of the hospital, Judy pulled out her cellphone and called her go-to fashion advisor, her sister Stella.

"Judy!" Her sister answered immediately. "It's been forever girl! How're things in the big city?"

"Honestly, not great right now Stel." Judy replied. "I need your help."

There was a brief silence before Stella spoke again.

"Judy, what on earth have you gotten yourself into?"

...

Nick stared at the door, as though if he willed hard enough he could undo the last 15 minutes of his life.

But the door opened once more, forcing him to abandon his attempt at time travel.

Diana stood in the doorway, drinking the soda she'd bought earlier.

Nick idly wondered if she was just keeping the empty can in an attempt to seem indifferent, but decided he didn't really care right now.

"That was a mistake." She said.

Nick raised an eyebrow at her, but didn't respond.

"You thought she'd try and backpedal, right? That backfired pretty bad." The tigress walked into the room, plopping down in the chair she'd slept in, picking up a magazine.

After a moment she asked, "You gonna cancel?" without looking up from her periodical.

Nick walked over to his bed and hit the nurse call button without answering her.

As soon as the nurse walked in, Nick asked to see the doctor so that he could be discharged.

The nurse cautioned him against pushing himself, but left to find the doctor.

Nick picked up his clothes, which the hospital had been kind enough to wash for him, and had placed folded next to his bed for when he was ready to leave. He stepped behind a privacy screen that had been left in the room for just this purpose, and began to dress himself.

Nick could tell Diana cared about his answer. She hadn't turned a page the entire time he'd been silent. And she had started off staring at a double-page advertisement. She wasn't reading anything, she was listening to him.

 _This could be a problem._ Nick thought to himself.

He had honestly expected the girl to be gone by now. Whisked away by her parents, legal guardians, the police, pixies, whatever, just as long as she didn't follow him out of the hospital.

Which it now appeared was her intention.

Nick was about to finally give her an answer, when the doctor walked in.

After giving Nick a few minor physical tests to make sure he was well enough to leave, the doctor gave him some advice about caring for his wound, and made an appointment to see him again one week from now to check on his progress.

Nick started for the door, and Diana stood to follow.

Nick carefully considered how he was going to handle this.

He wanted to spare the girls feelings if at all possible. But considering how far she'd taken this attachment problem already, he felt sure he'd need to apply generous force to make her leave him be.

He regretted the necessity of emotionally wounding the girl he'd just saved. But he didn't need a hanger-on, especially a teenage one willing to butt into his personal life.

He turned to face her, fixing her with a frosty glare.

She shrank back, clearly not expecting him to be so cold towards her.

He took in a slow breath, affecting that what he was about to do pained him, when the both of them were saved by the door opening once more to reveal the social worker that had been assigned to work with Diana today, a middle-aged female panther.

 _Not the exit I had in mind, but I'll take it._ Nick thought, slipping out before Diana could protest.

Closing the door behind him, he nodded to the officer that had been assigned to watch Diana and made his way to the elevator.

As he stepped in, he took out his cellphone. He needed to make a few calls.

"Nick! Wait!"

He looked up to see Diana running down the hall, both the panther and the officer trying to catch up with her.

Without a moment's hesitation, Nick slipped on his sunglasses, and pressed the door-close button until the elevator shut and began its descent.

 _Sorry kid,_ he thought, _but you're just not worth the time._

Stepping off the elevator, he walked towards the front doors as he found the name he was looking for in his phone and tapped call.

The line rang four times, then a deep angry voice answered, "What, Wilde?"

"What's the matter, Finn? Didn't sleep well? I thought you'd be worried about me?"

"The only thing I'm worried about is how smug you're gonna be now! Actin' like some action hero. You're gonna get yourself killed one a these days Wilde. Now what do you want?"

"I need you to pass a message to Big, I'm not close enough to a secure line to get in touch with him, and I don't have time to reach one right now."

"Ahh, I get ya. You wanna put the kibosh on that cop what jacked you up, yeah? Sure, I can send that down the line. Just lemme-"

"No." Nick interrupted.

"No? Whaddya mean, 'no'? She put you in the hospital man! Ain't you mad?"

"No."

"…No you ain't mad, or are you just sayin no again to Big droppin' the hammer on her?"

"Yes."

"…I freakin' hate you Wilde."

A satisfied grin split Nick's muzzle.

"Alright, fine, what do you want then?" Finn asked.

"I need a favor. A big one."

"Yeah? He's gonna want to know what kind. It's not like you to ask anyone for favors, even him."

"I need reservations. At The Elysium. This coming Friday, eight o'clock."

"You what? Nick, you know that place is off limits for business, so what are…you… No. No, uh-uh, no way, you cannot be serious."

"No idea what you're talking about, Finn"

"No, Nick, seriously, do not do this. This is a bad idea. Like, the worst one you could possibly go with."

"So you'll pass the message along then?"

"Nick! She. Is. A. COP! You cannot do this!"

"Great, thanks bud, I'll touch base when I get back to the office."

"Don't you hang up on me Wilde, don' you dare-"

The line disconnected with a soft click.

"Now then, just a few more calls to make."

To a fox like Nick Wilde, favors were just as good as currency, and Nick hoarded them like they were gold. There were very few influential people in the city who did not know him personally. And all but one or two of them were in Nick's debt in some way or another.

They'd leap at a chance to wipe that debt clean.

The next line only rang once before it was quickly answered.

A cautious voice answered, "Yes?"

"Bellwether, babe, it's Nick."


	6. Chapter 6

As he stepped through the glass doors of the skyscraper that housed his office, Nick was gratified to see two more security guards than normal in the lobby, both keeping him within their line of sight until he was inside the elevator. Nick appreciated the gesture.

As he reached the top floor, he straightened his jacket, wishing he'd gone home to change before coming here. But he had a schedule to keep. He'd called in several favors on his way back from the hospital, and it would take time for those gears to finish turning. One downside of non-monetary transactions was that they were often much slower.

Nevertheless, the particular wheel he'd been counting on had finished its slow turn. As he walked towards his private office, his secretary (a young jackal named Kelly) informed him that Mr. Big was waiting for him on video chat.

Nick walked into his office and closed the door behind him. As he sat in the leather chair behind his desk, he was greeted by the image of his boss on the monitor of his computer.

"Good morning boss, how are you today?" Nick asked with a sunny voice.

"Do not try do distract me with pleasantries, Nicholas. Show me."

Nick considered feigning ignorance for a bit longer, but decided he didn't want to antagonize the shrew when he was asking him for such an enormous favor.

He stood up, removing his coat and unbuttoning his shirt. Draping both across the back of his chair, he turned so that the camera could see his back.

It was easy to see where he had been stabbed, as the doctor had needed to shave his fur away in that spot to be able to stitch the wound closed.

"See? Just a scratch." Nick said.

"Hmm. A two-inch deep scratch, that could easily have punctured your kidney. Tell me Nicholas, how easy would it have been to bounce back from that?"

"Well, I do have a second one."

"Nick."

"Okay, okay, yes, it could have been a lot worse. But it wasn't. And it was an honest mistake."

"Mmm." Big made a disinterested sound. "And what about these reservations you need? You were running your mouth again, weren't you, Nicholas?"

Nick sighed, Big knew him better than anyone but Finn, and knew just what kind of problems Nick often created for himself.

"One day, Nicholas, you will need to stop writing checks you cannot cash. I love you like a son, but even love has its limits."

Nick briefly considered calling him dad in an attempt to make light of the situation. Sadly, he didn't think it would work. Another time then.

"Mr. Big, I feel that, given all I have accomplished, especially in recent years, this is not an outlandish request…except for the time constraints of it."

There was a pause wherein Nick wished for the thousandth time that he could actually see Mr. Big's beady eyes.

"Fortunately for you then, I agree."

Nick sighed inwardly. Honestly, he hadn't been sure that Big would go for it. This was going to come at a high price, even by Mr. Big's standards. Nick had gambled that he'd had enough good will stored up with the shrew to pay for it.

"But before I make the necessary arrangements," Big said. "I'd like to know, who's the lucky girl?"

Nick went rigid.

He had expected Finnick to tell Big.

He had actually been planning on Finnick to find it so outlandish or humorous that he wouldn't be able to stop himself from telling Big. Because Nick very much did not want to be the one to tell him. Well, at least not the first.

Nick hesitated, weighing his options. He could claim it was a business dinner. But then it wouldn't have needed to be a favor. Big knew how Nick operated, and he would gladly invest in any outing that Nick could assure him would be profitable in the end.

He could claim it wasn't serious, but the destination would severely weaken that argument.

He could claim it was a blind date, but Nick was well established in being opposed to the very concept.

There was no reasonable deflection, none that would not insult the shrew. Nick knew better than to do that. Also, the silence was noticeably dragging out.

"Judy Hopps." Nick stated calmly, as though Mr. Big had no reason to recognize the name.

Mr. Big's visible reaction was fairly minor. A slight raising of eyebrows, a faint displeased moan, and an uncomfortable pause were all that denoted his displeasure.

However, Nick had known people who had received that reaction from the shrew before. Many of them were now permanent residents of the Tundra Town lake.

"No." was all that Big said.

"Mr. Big, I'm sure that I can-"

"Have you considered how this could endanger our plans?"

Nick cringed.

"I asked Finnick if you were ready to move on the rabbit." Big said quietly, making a show of looking at his ring. "When he told me you weren't, I had assumed it was because you hadn't finished preparing a media statement, since this opportunity presented itself so much earlier than we were expecting."

Big put his claw down and focused his attention fully on Nick, leaning slightly forward.

"We need to discredit the ZPD within the next three months. We have to be able to dismiss any accusations they can bring to bear."

The shrew sat back in his chair again.

"We're too close to succeeding Nicholas. We can't afford any mistakes. If you weren't absolutely necessary to this, I would be sending you to tundra town to clean fish until you had your head on straight."

Nick's mask betrayed none of the frustration he felt at the moment. Mr. Big was lecturing him about the plan? The plan that **Nick** made? The plan that **Nick** had almost single-handedly executed over the past seven years? He was tempted to simply hang up then and there.

But all that showed was his classic lazy grin.

"Of course Mr. Big." Nick said, all smoothness and sugar.

The shrew took a moment to regard him.

Mr. Big did not have the capacity to read Nick, nor to see behind his mask. However, when you know someone for more than ten years, when you work with them, speak with them every day, and rely on them to get things done, you inevitably develop an understanding of them, limited though it may be.

Big knew that Nick wasn't going to let this go.

"You're playing with fire Nicholas. And that rabbit is gasoline."

Nick's smile twitched almost imperceptibly.

"Mr. Big, officer Hopps is too low ranking in the ZPD to give us any true leverage. If we're going to effectively discredit them, we'll need someone at the rank of captain or higher. If at all possible, Bogo himself. That's actually what my business in the slums was about last night, and why Hopps is irrelevant."

Big was interested now. The shrew leaned slightly forward once more, waiting for Nick to continue.

"I have some rather…disparaging evidence about the good chief."

Nick's grin twisted into a malicious sneer.

"When I'm through with him, he won't be able to show his face anywhere in the city. The whole of the ZPD will be thrown into chaos for days, if not weeks. Before they can even tie their shoes again, it will be too late to stop us."

Mr. Big considered Nick's words for a moment, before a proud smile grew on his muzzle. A rare thing indeed.

"Excellent. Contact me again when you're prepared to move forward Nicholas."

And with that, the window went dark, the call ended.

Nick's evil grin vanished from his face, replaced by a frustrated pout.

"Well, I was really hoping he wouldn't get all hung up on the fact that she was a cop. Or that she tased me and got me stabbed."

Nick plopped himself down in his desk chair.

"Good thing I already made preparations of my own." He said, smiling.

Nick began organizing files on his computer, preparing to launch a wave of emails. Dozens of mammals across the city would be greatly relieved to learn that today was the day they were finally free of Nick Wilde.

At least, that's what Nick would lead them to believe.

After a little over an hour there was a knock on his door.

"Come." He said, not looking up.

Kelly stepped in. "Ms. Bellwether is here to see you, sir." She said.

"Good, good, send her in."

When there was no response, he looked up at her. She was staring at him, blushing slightly.

"Is there something on my face, dear?" He asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Ah, um, you're not wearing a shirt, sir." She said quietly.

Nick grinned at her shyness. He'd not teased her like this before, and made a mental note of its effectiveness. Any chink in someone's armor was always worth knowing.

He stood up and began to put his shirt and jacket back on.

"Thank you, Kelly, now please send Ms. Bellwether in."

She gave a slight squeak as she realized she'd been staring, and scurried out to get the waiting sheep.

A moment later Dawn entered his office. She walked up to his desk and sat down in one of the chairs in front of it, folding her arms.

"It's been three months Wilde, what do you want?" She asked, sounding like a defiant prisoner asking how they were going to be executed.

Nick turned as he straightened his jacket, and saw she had been staring at the bloody hole in the back of his suit. He grinned at her, enjoying how the expression further unsettled her. He then sat down in his own chair, lacing his fingers together and resting his chin on them.

"I've decided it's time for me to collect on your debt, Ms. Bellwether. So let's talk business."

The sheep swallowed audibly.

The fox's grin broadened.


	7. Chapter 7

The next day. (Wednesday)

Judy loved her sister dearly.

She also wanted to strangle her.

After Judy had explained that she really needed this date to go well, Stella had promised to be on the 8:00AM train out of Bunny Burrow, and that they would be going on a whirlwind shopping spree to prepare.

What Stella had failed to mention was that she would be bringing a small army along with her. Stella brought Meredith and Stacy, two more of Judy's sisters; Ashley, Megan, and Debra, Stella's own 'fashion council'; and Jenny and Kate, the only two of Judy's friends from high school that Judy still kept in touch with.

All eight of them had practically tackled Judy to the ground right there in the train station.

After a flurry of hugs, introductions, and rushed reunions, the group assembled itself with Judy at its core, and set out on its mission.

Judy had been unable to extricate herself from the center of the bunny circus for the past four hours, and she was already exhausted. She sat with her head slumped against the food court table with Kate sitting across from her, while the others bought lunch.

"Sooo," Kate began, and Judy groaned inwardly at the question she knew was coming.

"You have got to tell me Judy, who is this guy that managed to win the attention of the implacable Judy Hopps?"

They had been bombarding Judy with this same question and its many variations all day long.

The one thing that was saving Stella from an early grave was the fact that she had feigned ignorance as to the identity of Judy's date.

She had told them everything else though.

"He's taking you to the most romantic restaurant in the whole city!" Kate said, swooning. "Maybe even the world! And he can afford it too! Can you imagine how loaded this guy must be, Judy?"

"I'm not going out with him for his money." Judy huffed.

"Of course not, no, you would never!" Kate said quickly. Then a moment later quietly added, "But it's not like it hurts, right?"

Judy smiled despite herself.

She had been trying to hold on to her righteous anger all day, but she was genuinely moved by how much they were all ready to invest in helping her. She hadn't realized until today, but they had all been worried that she might never find anyone.

Of course, she hadn't, she quickly reminded herself.

 _It's just because I owe it to him._ She repeated for what seemed the hundredth time today.

 _He probably didn't even expect me to say yes._ For some reason, whenever she thought that, it made Judy's chest tighten.

She barely knew anything about Nick, so she shouldn't be so wrapped up in what he thought of her.

But she couldn't help but admit that it felt really nice to be asked out. To feel like someone wanted you.

 _He wouldn't have suggested it if he didn't want it at all, right?_ Judy had no answer to this question, so she pushed it out of her mind once more.

The merry-go-round of her thoughts were almost as exhausting as her shopping entourage.

Almost.

The other girls returned then, carrying several trays filled with almost every vegetarian dish available in the food court, saving Judy from having to answer Kate's original question.

"So when are you gonna tell us about this mystery guy?" Stacy asked, pointing at Judy with her fork.

 _Or not._ Judy thought.

"He's gotta be pretty impressive for Judy to have agreed to go out with him." Jenny said, looking like she was trying to dream up a mental image of Judy's date.

Judy sat up suddenly enough to give several of the girls a start, and the words began tumbling out of her mouth before she could give them any real consideration.

"Look you guys, this is the first time someone has ever asked me out, I'm super nervous, I have no idea what I'm doing, and I just really want this to go well!"

Judy's voice became faster and more frantic with each word, and at the end she found she was breathing heavily.

The girls all stared a moment, then looked at each other as they suddenly didn't know what to say.

"Judy," Kate began, "You've **never** been on a date before?"

Judy sighed before she answered. "No."

Each of the other girls' expression shifted to a look of determination.

"Then we are gonna make sure this date goes amazingly! You're going to have him wrapped around your little finger by the end of the night!" Stacy said, standing up and sounding like she was giving a pep talk to a terrified soldier.

Judy found herself imagining having Nick wrapped around her.

His arms would be able to engulf her completely.

She would be able to bury herself in the fur of his chest.

He would wrap his tail around her as he leaned down, his lips—

"Judy? You ok?" Meredith asked.

Judy almost fell out of her chair.

 _Oh man. What am I thinking? I just met him! Stop it brain!_

But in the back of her mind, a quiet yet firm voice said those thoughts weren't going anywhere.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Everything is totally great. Peachy."

The other girls exchanged another look.

The rest of lunch was eaten mostly in silence.

...

As the day had worn on, the group of bunnies had found a number of dresses that would be suitable for The Elysium, but would also fit within Judy's budget.

However, all eight of the other girls were adamant that they visit one last store before any decision was made.

"Guys, there is no way I can afford anything from Vixonic. A single dress from that place costs more than my rent!" Judy said as they walked to the store, trying in vain to dissuade them.

"That's not really saying much though." Stella said.

Judy gave her a withering glare, but her sister pressed on.

"It's the principle of the thing Judy," Stella said matter-of-factly. "You can't buy any dress without knowing all of the available options. Even if some of those options might be beyond you. It still helps to have perspective."

Judy quirked an eyebrow at her sister.

"…You guys just want me to try on more dresses, don't you?"

"Well duh!" Meredith exclaimed. "We came all the way from the Burrow Judy! Can't you please just humor us?"

Judy was about to respond when Kate interjected.

"Plus, you know, we've never gotten to do this with you before. Even when we were the ones getting ready for something. You were always so busy getting ready for the academy. And we totally understand that! Please don't think that we hold is against you. But we all love you Judy, and this a bonding thing for girls. It's one of the ways we show support to each other."

There was a pause as tears began to well in Judy's eyes. She had never really thought about it that way before. Had she really missed out on so many chances to bond with her sisters and friends?

"You guys…" Judy began.

"Yeah, whatever, let's start the search!" Stella said, practically diving into the store's selection of elegant evening wear.

The others quickly followed suit, leaving Judy and Kate standing there alone.

Kate chuckled to herself as she shook her head. She grabbed Judy's arm and said, "Alright, let's get this over with."

Despite the touching moment that had just passed, Judy groaned once more.

Judy couldn't believe what she was seeing in the mirror.

The fanciest thing Judy had ever worn was her dress uniform the ZPD had issued her upon graduation.

But this dress was worlds beyond that.

Black silk, smoother than anything Judy had ever felt in her life. It reflected the light with a soft glow that made Judy seem almost ethereal. It felt incredibly comfortable, yet fit Judy like a glove, accentuating her curves perfectly in all the right places.

Judy blushed, imagining walking into The Elysium on Nick's arm, she in this dress, him in a tux…

Once again her mind began to wander, and Judy had to tear herself away from her daydreams before they went too far.

…Well, maybe just a little bit farther.

"It's amazing." Ashley breathed, snapping Judy out of her thoughts.

There was a round of agreement from everyone else.

After a moment of silent appreciation, Judy spoke.

"There is absolutely no way that I can ever afford this." She said, with much more regret in her voice than she had expected.

"But it's so perfect." Stella whined. "They even had your exact size! We barely found anything in this whole store that actually fit you! It's gotta be fate!"

"This isn't just a clothes store Stel," Judy said, "This place specializes in stuff that's crazy fashionable. So unless fate happens to drop a thousand dollars in my lap, this isn't happening."

Despite the soundness of Judy's statement, she made no move to put the dress back.

 _If only,_ she thought sadly.

As she finally forced herself down from the raised dais in front of the dressing room mirrors, the cheetah sales clerk who had been helping them stepped in.

"Found your favorite, huh? That's a really popular model." She said cheerily. "Is that the one you want to go with?"

"I'm sorry," Judy said, "But I just can't afford it.

The cheetah tilted her head slightly. "What do you mean?"

Judy chuckled nervously, unable to tell if she was joking.

"I mean I don't have enough money to pay for it."

The cheetah appeared genuinely confused for another moment, before her face lit up with understanding.

"Oh!" She exclaimed, "That's right! It was a surprise."

"What was?" Judy asked suspiciously.

"He already paid for it."

"….Who did?" Judy asked, her voice a whisper.

"Your boyfriend!" The cheetah chirped.

There was a chorus of gasps.

 _Oh no._ Judy thought.

There were seven simultaneous renditions of the same question: "BOYFRIEND!?"

And one resounding shout of, "FATE!"


	8. Chapter 8

Judy flopped down onto her bed. She wanted to just wrap herself in a little ball with her quilt and sleep, but she knew she wasn't going to be able to fall asleep any time soon.

She had spent the rest of the afternoon with her entourage bombarding her with questions that she didn't have answers to.

She had learned from the Vixonic clerk that Nick had come in earlier that morning, right when the store had opened, with the owner of the store. Who also happened to be the designer of most of the dresses. The two had picked out the exact dress that was now hanging on a hook in Judy's dresser door, in Judy's exact size (or rather, size **s** ). Nick had paid for it in full, but hadn't taken it with him. Instead, he gave the clerk an exact description of Judy, and said she would be by later today to pick it up, but for the clerk not to say anything until she had picked it out, because it was going to be a surprise.

It was the sweetest and most romantic thing anyone had ever done for Judy.

She felt like she was going to throw up.

This was all moving way too fast. And she hadn't even spoken to Nick since she walked out of his room in the hospital. She didn't know where he was or what he was doing. She had no idea how he'd known she would even **go** to Vixonic, much less try anything on. And she didn't want to spend too much time thinking about how he had known her measurements.

What else did he know? What else did he have planned? Was he really taking this whole thing so seriously?

…Was she his girlfriend now?

Logically, Judy knew that he couldn't **make** her be his girlfriend. She also knew it would be foolish to rush into a relationship with someone she just met. And that she should be cautious about how much he seemed to know about her, and how well he was able to predict her. All of these were perfectly valid points.

And yet none of them could defeat the sense of starry-eyed wonder that kept coming back to her again and again.

She knew this should be borderline scary, and it was, just for the wrong reasons.

Nick knew things he shouldn't.

He also had not so much as texted her since they parted ways at the hospital, and she was kicking herself for not asking for his number.

But this was exactly the kind of whirlwind romance that young girls dreamed of. A chance encounter brings two people from different walks of life together. One of them takes a chance, and the two start a journey that will change their lives. Together they conquer every obstacle in their path. Because when they're together, they are—

Getting way ahead of themselves here.

 _Seriously,_ Judy thought, draping an arm across her face, _this is like some crummy fluff story written by an 'aspiring writer' who wouldn't know pacing if it bit them in the butt._

But there was nothing to be done about it except wait.

She just had to make it through tomorrow without exploding from the anticipation, and then it would finally be Friday.

Judy wanted to skip Thursday entirely. Not just because she wanted Friday to hurry up and get here (she did), but because Jenny and Kate had decided she needed more 'help' from them.

[At the train station earlier that day]

All the bunnies had to return that evening. Judy's sisters couldn't be away from the farm too long, as it was the middle of harvest season. Judy had hundreds of siblings, but it took all of them to keep the farm running properly. And Stella's friends couldn't swing extra time off from their own jobs with the excuse of helping Judy get ready for a date.

But Jenny and Kate were a different story.

True, they both had jobs they were supposed to get back to, but there was a reason Judy had actually kept in touch with them. They were two of only a handful of people who had actually taken Judy seriously when she had wanted to become a cop. They had never laughed at her. They actually listened to her when she talked about her dream. And they had genuinely supported her the entire time leading up to her acceptance into the academy.

"You think we're leaving **now**? After that? Uh uh, no way." Jenny said, as she and Kate exchanged their tickets for ones on tomorrow evening's train.

"Guys, you have jobs! You can't just drop everything to help me get ready for a date!" Judy said exasperatedly.

"Oh we totally can." Jenny said, waving her hand dismissively. "We both called in sick on the way to the train station. 24 Hour stomach bug." She turned to Judy and smirked, "You know how it is."

"Judy," Kate had said, practically vibrating with excitement, "This guy bought you the most amazing dress before we even got into the city this morning." Kate put both her hands on Judy's shoulders, her grip almost painfully tight. "And he deliberately referred to himself as your boyfriend. He. Is. In. To. You!" Kate was shaking her now, a manic gleam in her eyes.

"Plus, you have, like, no jewelry. At all." Jenny said flatly.

"Oh! Right, no, that is totally not ok." Kate said, suddenly becoming serious.

"Guys, I don't-" Judy began.

"So," Jenny said, turning and walking towards the exit, "you head on home and get some sleep. We'll come by and meet up with you tomorrow, and we'll find you some decent jewelry."

"That is, if Nick hasn't found it already." Kate said with a knowing smile.

Judy couldn't help but blush. She wished the clerk hadn't told them Nick's name.

"Right," Jenny said, as though she hadn't even noticed, "and we also need to do some dating 101 with you too."

"What? What does that mean?" Judy asked.

Kate turned to look at Judy as they stood just down the sidewalk from the Zootopia Central train station.

"Judy, we love you, but this is completely foreign territory for you. And this guy, this Nick, is taking this way serious. We can't let you just dive into the deep end unprepared. What kind of friends would we be then?"

Judy wanted to tell them it wasn't that serious, but the evidence was mounting to the contrary.

She was truthfully very thankful to have friends that would go so far to support her. They were right, this was an area of life that she was thoroughly unfamiliar with. Only a day after being asked out, she had absolutely no idea what to do about anything. If it hadn't been for her sister Stella, she would probably have never even gone to Vixonic. Which raised the question, how had Nick known she would end up there? And how did he—

Kate snapped her fingers in Judy's face a few times, bringing her back to the present.

"Hey! No! No cop time! Girl time is now!" She said like she was talking to a disobedient child.

"No cop time?" Judy asked, raising an eyebrow.

"You have a 'cop face' Judy," Jenny said smiling. "You get it whenever you start looking for clues or when you're trying to solve a mystery."

Judy sighed. She had forgotten just how well these girls knew her.

"Alright," Judy said, "Just text me when you're ready and we can meet up"

"YAY!" Kate shouted, hugging her tightly. Then she said quietly, "But, you know, it was never really optional."

Judy smiled and returned the hug. "With you guys, it never is."

Jenny patted Judy on the back and said, "Hey, who better to wrangle an incredibly stubborn bunny, than **two** incredibly stubborn bunnies?"

[Back in Judy's room]

Judy loved her friends, but she knew that tomorrow was going to be a long day.


	9. Chapter 9

Nick ducked down the alley, his heart hammering in his chest. He threw boxes and trash cans in his wake, desperate to stall his pursuers any way he could. There was no point in attempting stealth. They were too close.

Nick didn't know how they had found him. He had been so careful. A lifetime of methodical caution, all for nothing.

They were going to kill him.

Nick glanced over his shoulder as he emerged from the alley. The shadows of the group chasing him morphed together on the wall, making them look like some enormous monster from an ancient ghost story.

He took in his surroundings, trying to figure out where he was. He'd spent so long just trying to outpace them that he hadn't paid attention to where he was going.

And now he was lost.

"No." He whispered. "No, that's not possible. I know every street in this city. There is no way I could be lost!"

As he shouted at the end, a chorus of mocking laughter rose behind him, alerting him that the mob was close enough to hear him.

He was currently standing at an intersection. To his left and right, the road stretched out into the night, so far that even his night vision couldn't see where it led, but it was clear there was no cover. Going back into the alley would carry him into those chasing him. This left moving directly forward, into a shabby looking neighborhood.

Sprinting down the street, Nick began trying every door he came across. Each was locked, and he didn't have a set of picks with him. Each house had an unnecessarily high fence around the back yard, preventing him from ducking behind to try and lose the mob, so he was forced to keep running.

The road seemed to stretch out longer and longer as Nick continued running, making the distance between each house greater and greater. All the while, he could hear the mammals chasing him getting closer, until he was sure he could feel their breath on the back of his neck.

Gasping for breath, his legs nearly buckled as he came to the house at the middle of a cul-de-sac. He tried the doorknob, and almost reflexively walked away. But it opened. With a heavy sigh of relief, Nick threw himself through the door, collapsing against it as it closed. He bolted it firmly shut.

He set about looking for a phone. He needed someone to come and pick him up. Preferably with an armed escort.

As he looked around the home he had stumbled into through, it seemed oddly familiar to him.

The more he studied it, the bigger everything seemed to get.

He had just gotten home.

It was late, he'd been out longer than he meant to be.

Mom would understand though, he had been raking Mr. Greer's leaves.

He tossed his backpack onto the couch as he walked inside.

"Mom?" He called.

There was no answer.

He decided to grab something from the kitchen.

But as he walked to the doorway, he could smell something wrong.

"M-mom?"

He leaned through the opening, and as he opened his mouth to scream, the front door burst open, and a wave of monstrous shapes shot towards him, ready to tear him apart.

...

Thursday – 3:27 AM

Nick bolted upright in his bed.

He was covered in sweat, and panting as though he'd been running for miles.

He placed a paw over his face and gently rubbed his forehead.

 _Huh. Hasn't been that bad in a while. Guess I need to take my medication._

Nick stood up and walked over to his dresser. Opening his sock drawer, he pushed several pairs to one side, revealing a sturdy locked box. He carried it with him back to his bed, and produced a key from a hidden pocket in the spine of a book resting on his bedside table. He gently unlocked the box, and pulled out the contents.

 _Still got most of the bottle left in here. Plenty to get me through the night._

Taking it with him, he went into the kitchen, and poured himself a tall glass of water. Then he walked over to the glass door leading out to his terrace, and stepped outside. He settled down into one of the chairs, and put the glass of water down on a small glass-topped table next to it. He then gently unscrewed the top of the bottle. He took a moment to enjoy the view of the city at night. From his terrace, he could see a good portion of the city, all lit up with neon and streetlights.

Then he downed half the bottle of scotch in a single gulp.

...

Thursday – 11:39 AM

Nick shifted in his bed, trying to ignore how bright it was. Something about that seemed off to him, but his mind was incredibly sluggish for some reason. Despite his best attempts, he couldn't find the will to force himself to think properly. He was about to give up and just go back to sleep, when a familiar deep voice intruded.

"Mornin', princess." Finnick said mockingly. "Did you sleep well, or did a pea keep you up?"

Nick knew that later on he would think of several witty retorts to that question. Instead he threw his pillow in the general directions of Finnick's voice.

"Wow, great aim there, buddy. Come on, it's past time we got goin'."

Nick made no move to get up, attempting to make the fennec leave by simply willing him gone.

The silence stretched for a few minutes.

"That bad huh?" Finnick asked.

Nick wondered what he was talking about. As he did, he also began to wonder how he'd made it back to his bed. And why his head hurt so much.

"Saw you'd been drinkin' that nightmare scotch again."

Everything clicked.

Nick's mind cleared in an instant, years of practice and willpower overcoming the hangover. He stood up, and walked towards the bathroom to shower.

Finnick opened his mouth to say more, but Nick cut him off.

"Finn, I need you to go see Carlos. We have a media circus we need to organize, and we don't want anyone asking the wrong questions. Tell him to pick some people he can keep on a leash and get them prepped. We need to roll on this soon."

With that, he firmly closed the bathroom door behind him.

As he showered, he berated himself for letting Finnick see him like that. It was the second time.

Years ago, before Nick had built everything he had now, before Big, before plans, before everything, Finnick had found Nick in an alley, drunk nearly to death, clutching a bottle of scotch. He'd tried to take it from Nick, but Nick had adamantly refused to part with it. When Finnick had asked why, Nick had given a simple response. 'It helps with the nightmares.'

For years afterwards, Finnick had asked every now and then about those nightmares. Nightmares bad enough to make a kid drink himself into oblivion. But Nick had never said anything more. Finnick had no need to know anything about them. No one did.

The pain kept him focused. Reminded him what this was all for.

And soon, it would all be over.


	10. Chapter 10

Thursday – 2:00 PM

"Guys, he's not gonna kiss me! It's the first date!"

Judy was getting exasperated with her friends.

The day had started out wonderfully, they had returned to the mall for another shopping mission, and Judy had successfully talked them out of buying a pair of ridiculously huge earrings, four overpriced rings, and a broach that had cost more than she made in a month.

They (or rather, Judy) had settled on a lovely silver necklace with a single spinel stone embedded in its center. It matched Judy's fur color and her violet eyes beautifully. Jenny and Kate had tried to convince her to shop for more, but Judy had firmly decided not to go overboard. She wasn't much for frivolous spending nor flashy jewelry.

Sadly, the day had only gone downhill from there.

The girls had spent the next several hours drilling endless dating advice into Judy. How to flirt, what subjects to avoid, how to answer questions to make him intrigued, eye contact, how to laugh, how to bat her eyelashes, questions to ask him, what to order, how to eat…

The list went on and on.

To her credit, Judy kept pace with everything they said. Though she didn't intend to use most of it, she figured any information could potentially be helpful.

But then they went too far.

"Judy, I'd be surprised if he didn't ask you to come back to his place for coffee after dinner." Jenny said.

The trio were eating outside a small sandwich shop situated in the back of the mall. It had an entrance inside the mall, and one on the outside wall as well. They were currently seated in a small patio area that was part of the shop.

"Coffee? Who drinks coffee at night? It would keep you up for hours." Judy said, confused.

Kate choked on her lemonade, coughing for several seconds before responding.

"Um, no, Judy, when a guy asks you back for coffee, he doesn't really mean _coffee_."

"…What? Then what does he mean?"

Jenny and Kate looked at each other. Clearly, neither had expected to have to explain this.

Jenny looked away as she scratched the back of her head. "Uhh, well, when a guy asks you back to his place for coffee, he, uh, wants to spend the night with you."

Judy processed this for a moment.

Then she caught up.

Her eyes went wide, and she practically shouted, "WHAT!? No way! We only just met Tuesday! We can't just – I mean, I couldn't – No, there's no way he would ever ask that. Not on the first [ _And probably ONLY,_ she thought to herself.] date!"

Kate fiddled with her lemonade and chuckled before she said, "Trust me Judy, he's gonna ask."

"What makes you guys so sure?"

"Judy, we're speaking from experience here. They aren't always super forward about it, some are even bashful. But every buck we've ever been out with, without exception, has always suggested it one way or another. If you ask your sisters, they'll tell you the same thing." Jenny responded, sipping her tea.

"It's not really that big a deal," Kate said, a look of sympathy on her face, "You're just not used to it. I mean, you're a bunny, but you really don't act like one. You spent so much time investing yourself into preparing for the academy that you kinda missed out on the best parts of being a rabbit!"

Jenny raised an eyebrow at Judy, "Is it because it'll be your first time? Cause that's-"

Judy held up her hands to stop them both.

"Guys, I am not having this conversation. I appreciate all the help you've given me so far; I don't know what I would've done without you guys. But I am not going to worry about this. I'm not even going to consider it."

"Judy," Kate began, "Whether he's a gentlemammal or not, he's still a rabbit. A city buck at that! We have a reputation for a reason." She said sheepishly.

Jenny interjected, "It's not that he thinks you're easy, it's just that rabbits-"

"This won't come up!"

"Judy, it will!"

"It won't!"

"Why not?"

"Because he's not a rabbit!"

Judy's shout echoed off the side of the mall, carrying her voice out across the parking lot. Thankfully, on a Thursday afternoon, there were few mammals there to witness Judy's outburst.

Her friends however, were dumbstruck.

Judy stared back at them, her stubborn anger warring with her growing worry at their lack of response.

Then Kate's face relaxed, and she sighed. "Oh, Judy, no wonder you've been so cagey and anxious about this. You didn't want anyone to get all uptight about you 'dating outside the lines.'"

Jenny followed Kate's lead, saying, "Sure, it's not a really common thing, but no one gets real fidgety about it unless it's pred-prey stuff. Admittedly, I don't know how that even works. It seems like the differences would be too much. How do you even kiss a pred? Wouldn't their teeth get in the way?"

"And their claws too," Kate added, "Some preds have retractable claws, but what about the rest? I wouldn't want to always have to be worried I was gonna get scratched when he hugged me. And what about holding paws? The whole thing honestly sounds kinda dangerous."

"And creepy," Jenny added, "Don't get me wrong, but I feel like there's something really weird about any pred that wants to have a prey partner. I've never heard of any of those relationships lasting, and there's always rumors about the awful things the preds do to them."

The two turned to look at Judy, and only then noticed her fuming expression.

It seemed that stubborn anger had not only won, but elevated to indignant hurt.

"He's a fox." Judy said it like it was a threat, her eyes moistening.

Jenny and Kate's ears dropped.

Kate covered her mouth with a paw, and Jenny bit her lip in distress. The two looked at each other as though they had just discovered themselves in the middle of a mine field. Both opened their mouths a few times, trying to find something to say, but there was no taking back what had already been said. For tortuously long minutes, none of the three looked at each other, the only sounds nearby birds, and Judy's furiously thumping foot.

"Judy," Kate began, reaching to touch Judy's arm.

Judy drew back from her and stood up.

"No." She said firmly. "No, I'm sorry, it's not ok. You guys have never met him before, and you're making all these terrible judgments about him. You want to know how I actually met him? I met him in a back lot in the slums at two in the morning. I saw him holding a teenage girl in his arms who was tied up and gagged, and he had another even younger one clinging to his leg bawling her eyes out." She jabbed her finger at them as she continued. "And I thought exactly what you guys are thinking now, 'Clearly the big bad fox is doing something horrible and nasty! He needs to be stopped!' So I tased him until he collapsed into the dirt." She looked away, her own embarrassment and regret returning to her once more. "It wasn't until I started untying the girls that I noticed the three unconscious thugs he had dealt with all by himself. The girls, who he had just single-pawedly rescued, told me how he had come out of nowhere and saved them. Saved them from a fate that's too wretched to even think about." She threw her hands up, and turned to face the parking lot. "And to top it all off, when he collapsed, he ended up landing on his own knife, which he was using to cut the girls free!" Her head dropped and she sighed before continuing. "He had just done my job. The one I had specifically asked to be assigned to the slums to do. I wanted to make the world a better place. And the first time I really had the chance to take a meaningful step towards that goal, I let prejudice guide my actions. If it weren't for him, those girls might never have been seen again. I tased a mammal who did more in a few minutes than I've done in three months." She whirled to face her friends. "And I am not going to sit here and listen to you two bad mouth a hero! This isn't just about him helping me keep my job! I think he's amazing, and I just want to show him that I'm more than some stupid country bunny that only sees a shifty fox!"

After her tirade was over, she stood there panting for a moment. Her friends simply stared at her, wide-eyed. Neither knew what to say. They both deeply regretted their earlier words. It had never entered their minds that Judy's mystery date could have possibly been a fox.

They both desperately wanted to say something. But Judy was right. They hadn't known, and in the absence of any knowledge, they had made unfair and specist assumptions.

Before either of them could work up the nerve to apologize, or even open their mouths, Judy opened her wallet and slammed enough money down on to the table to cover the entire meal and the tip.

"I appreciate all that you guys have done for me these past couple of days." She hefted her bags. "I'm going home."

Judy walked away without saying another word.

After a few minutes, Kate buried her face in her paws and began crying.


	11. Chapter 11

Friday (almost there)

Judy was pacing in her tiny apartment. It was only 9:00 in the morning, and she already felt sick she was so nervous. Her dress was still hanging on the inside of her dresser door, her new necklace was laid out on her desk, and she and had showered twice, already planning to grab a third at 6:30. She felt like she was losing her mind!

 _This has to go well. It has to. Has to has to has to!_ She thought, attempting to psych herself up.

It worked, for about 10 minutes. Then the process repeated itself for what felt like the thousandth time that morning.

She wondered how Nick's morning was going…

...

Nick stoically stared out the enormous glass window that was the north wall of his office. He had been in that spot since he had arrived at precisely 8:00 this morning. He had ignored three calls, and rescheduled two meetings already today, and was thinking of just leaving the office altogether without telling anyone where he was going or when he would be back. Because something was horribly wrong. But Nick couldn't quite figure out what it was. Something was slowly driving him mad, and the longer he sought what the source was, the more powerful his sense of agitation became.

The knock at his door made him flinch. Nick never flinched. He was extremely thankful that no one had seen it.

"What?" He snapped. Good grief, he couldn't even control his tone. What was wrong with him?

Kelly poked her head into the room. "Mr. Wilde, the lemming firm is on the line. They said you're expecting a large transfer today, and they've prepared to have it untraceably routed."

"Tell them we'll handle it tomorrow."

Kelly blinked. "Um, sir, when they called, I told them you were busy, I wasn't going to both-*ahem*-interrupt you, but they said it was several million dollars."

Nick never turned away from his window. "Tell them we'll handle it tomorrow."

"But sir, they-"

"If they want to keep doing business with us, they can wait a day. Or, if they like, they are completely free to terminate their arrangement with us." He finally turned to face her, and his expression caused her to shrink back. "And face all the consequences that would bring."

"Y-yes, sir." Kelly practically fled back to her desk.

As his door slowly shut itself, Nick could hear her urging whoever was on the line to simply postpone whatever they were calling about. Something about him 'being in a mood.' Well, that was fairly accurate. Nick just wasn't sure what mood. He couldn't remember feeling like this. This foreign sense of dread, like he was facing a situation that he didn't have control over. Which was impossible. Nick never allowed himself to enter any setting wherein he was not in complete control.

He felt like he was forgetting something.

He checked his calendar, but saw everything listed for today as perfectly mundane. Business deals that didn't require his attention, unruly partners to be put back in line, sundry tasks to handle, such as the transaction Kelly had mentioned. Truly, nothing of interest. Much less, anything to make him feel a lack of control.

A thought struck him. He pulled out his phone, and checked his personal calendar. The one no one else had access to. He had indeed forgotten something. Dinner, with officer Hopps.

He grimaced slightly, realizing he'd missed several golden opportunities to toy with her these past few days. He should've asked her about the dress. He also realized that his window for cancelling was closing fast.

Not that he was going to, no, he just was aware of the variables involved in this situation.

No, he didn't want to cancel, he—

…He **didn't want** to cancel. Nick sat in his chair and considered this for a moment. Normally, he enjoyed days like today. Everything was straightforward, simple, easy. Everyone was putty in his hands, puppets dancing on his strings. And yet, everything only served to further sour his mood.

Except the thought of this evening.

He was, surprisingly, looking forward to it. Which, logically, would mean…

 _I'm… nervous…?_

No, no that couldn't be right.

…Could it…?

...

Friday 3:00 PM

It was only five hours until they were supposed to be at The Elysium, and she STILL hadn't heard from Nick! Forget not having met until this past Tuesday! It was just common courtesy to freaking call your date! Check in! Make sure plans haven't changed, that nothing major or life altering had happened! That they hadn't gotten jumped in an alley at night or something!

That last thought caused Judy to cringe. As far as she knew, she was the only one to have ever jumped Nick at night.

…That was not where she had meant to go with that.

All day she had been fighting her own brain about what to think of Nick. He had sauntered into her life out of nowhere, and things had been crazy ever since. She had almost gotten fired. Actually, she still could be!

But, that wasn't really his fault. No, Judy bore the responsibility for that one.

Still, **he** was the one who had asked **her** out.

She flopped down onto her bed with a sigh.

He could at least text her.

 _Wait._ She thought, sitting up. _How is he going to pick me up? He doesn't know where I live…does he?_

 _…Maybe… maybe that's why he hasn't called. Because he didn't think I'd actually go through with it. Maybe he expected me to turn him down, and now…now he's just going to walk away._

Judy's ears fell. The thought of the first person to ever ask her out simply walking away from her without a word was heart-wrenching.

She turned and looked at the dress.

 _No. No, that's not what he's doing._

She stood up and walked over to her dresser, running her paws over the incredible dress he had bought for her. He had been there first thing in the morning. Had found the exact dress she had wanted, truthfully the only dress she had genuinely been interested in, in her exact size. And he had left it there for her as a surprise. She chuckled to herself. She still had no clue how he'd known she would be there. Maybe it was just a gamble on his part. Maybe he would have given it to her later if she hadn't gone. Whatever his plan had been, it had worked.

She made her decision. She would choose to trust him. He had already displayed a remarkable talent for making things come together, so Judy would have faith that he knew what he was doing.

A determined smile rose on her face, and she found that her anxiety had lessened somewhat. Maybe this would be easier than she thought.

Her text alert went off, and she rammed directly into her nightstand when she dove for her phone.

'I'll be by to pick you up at 7:30.  
What's your address?  
\- NW'

Judy stared at her phone.

She fell backwards onto her bed. "Ugh! Finally!"

She lifted her phone to type a response, and then she had an idea.

He let her stew for a while. She grinned mischievously. Turnabout is fair play.

...

Friday 4:00 PM

Nick could not stop tapping his foot. And if it wasn't his foot it was his hand. And if it wasn't his hand it was him pacing through his office.

 _She's doing this on purpose._

Nick was absolutely sure of it.

Sadly, that made it no less frustrating. Kelly had come to check on him three different times in the past hour. The fox was never this restless. His agitation was never detectable, much less on display like this. The fact that he couldn't hide it effectively only compounded his problems, making him even more fidgety.

 _This is unacceptable. I should just cancel. It's poor form, but I can't afford—_

His text alert went off and he froze mid stride. He resisted the urge to snatch his phone up off his desk, and calmly walked over to check the message.

It was from Hopps. Her address, nothing more.

Why that irritated him, Nick could not fathom. It was exactly what he had asked for, albeit an hour later than he had expected it.

 _She's toying with me._ He growled to himself.

 _Alright rabbit. You want to play? Let's play._

Nick grabbed his coat and headed for the door. As he placed his paw on the knob, he paused. He looked back on that day in the hospital, when he had been determined not to back down from his own game. Hopps had called his bluff, and he had been too stubborn to admit that that's what it had been. And here they were. The first time, it ended in a date. Where would the second game lead?

Nick knew this was dangerous. He had known it before, but had been confident he could manage the situation easily.

But honestly, this was starting to become interesting.

Well, the evening was still young.

 _Let's see if we can't shake things up a bit._

With that he walked out of his office, and began calling in a few favors.

He smiled to himself as the first call connected.

 _See you at 7:30, Carrots._


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N**

 **Hey, just wanted to give a quick shout out to syhsnakey, Vulpes V. Sapiens, The amazing shocked fox, GhostWolf88, Gary The Timberwolf, FokingGuest, ktvalmiri, Midnight Max, and ScaraMedn!**

 **I know I haven't responded to all the reviews that have been posted, but I wanted you guys to know that I read all of them. Your feedback makes me want to work harder to give you guys a great story!**

 **So thank you to everyone who's reviewed, and I hope you enjoy this chapter!**

Friday – 7:25 PM

Judy sat in the chair in front of her desk, her eyes glued to the small mirror in front of her. She was dressed and ready to go. She had showered no less than 10 times today. She had brushed her fur until it practically gleamed. Her dress was in pristine condition. Her spinel necklace shone brightly around her neck. And she had, for the very first time, used the perfume her sister Stacy had given her years ago. There was nothing she could do to possibly be more prepare than she was right now.

And she felt like she was about to jump out of a plane without a parachute.

She was afraid to move at all, lest she somehow ruin all the work she had put in to getting ready for tonight.

 _Just stay calm, Judy. Remember to breathe. Remember to keep perspective on the situation._

She began breathing deeply in and out, slowly calming her frayed nerves. She began to relax, and a smile grew on her face.

 _Who knows? Maybe this will be a lot of fun?_

The sound of her text alert shattered the measure of calm she had managed to gain, and she very nearly began hyperventilating.

 _Why is this so stressful? It's not even a real date! …Probably._

Judy groaned at her inability to decide how she felt about all this.

She picked up her phone to see a text from Nick.

'Madam, your chariot awaits.  
We shall depart at your pleasure.  
\- N'

 _Ok, that is super cheesy…and kind of cute._ Judy thought, smiling.

She looked into her mirror one last time, checking for any problems. As far as she could tell, she looked great. Judy didn't have a lot of experience dressing up like this, but she felt she looked rather nice right now.

 _I hope Nick thinks so._

Once again, her mind began to drift. She blushed furiously as she caught herself daydreaming.

She sighed heavily and walked to the door.

"Good luck rabbit!" The shout came through the thin wall.

"Dude, we aren't supposed to know about the date!"

"I didn't say anything about the date! I was just wishing her luck!"

"About what? You never wish her luck!"

"Well neither do you!"

"That's not the point, idiot!"

Judy chuckled to herself as she closed her door and walked down the hall. As ridiculous as they were, hearing Bucky and Pronk's usual bickering helped Judy loosen up a bit. She didn't have to impress Nick tonight. This wasn't a date; they were not in a relationship. She just needed to show him that she could see the good in him. That there was more to her than a presumptive bunny cop from the sticks.

She was feeling more steady now. The waiting was finally over. Sitting around was not her strong suit, but give Judy a problem to sink her teeth into and she was in top form.

And she would gladly sink her teeth into Nick.

 _AGH! For goodness' sake! Why can I not stop that?_

Despite the slip, Judy walked confidently to the front door of her apartment building, dramatically pushing the door open. She felt ready for anything.

She was not ready for the limo.

...

Nick was the picture of calm assurance, sitting in the back of the limo with one leg crossed over the other, waiting for his date.

He rolled the term around in his mind.

 _My date. My rabbit date. My rabbit cop date._

Nick had known many women over the years. Some he had been close with, some he had pretended to be close with. Some had tried to use him, most had been used **by** him. A few had tried to kill him. Oddly, those were the memories he enjoyed the most. They had kept things interesting.

Buy despite the myriad females in his past, he had never been on a true date. He had never asked a girl out that he didn't already know everything about. Each and every action had been perfectly calculated to produce the desired result. They were all just more puppets for him to control. Even the ones who had attempted to murder him. It was all part of the plan.

But this wasn't.

Hopps was supposed to say no. He wasn't supposed to be here right now. She wasn't supposed to be about to walk out that door and into his limo. Wearing a dress he had picked out. None of this was part of the plan. Nick took a moment to consider why that was. He had not deviated from his own plans for years. Never allowed a situation to occur that he did not already know the end result of. Yet here he was. True, he had researched Judy as best he could, but looking into a cop, even one as new as Hopps, drew the wrong kind of attention. He had only been able to learn so much.

Still, it shouldn't be too much of a hassle. She'd proven to be quite entertaining so far. Tasing him one minute, apologizing the next. Ok, there were several hours between those for her, but for Nick they were mere minutes apart.

Either way, Nick had decided that tonight would just be a nice distraction for himself. He would put his skills to the test wining and dining this bunny, then he would cut her loose. No matter how interesting she was, he couldn't afford the distraction.

His eyes flicked to the door as it opened.

And there she was.

His mind ground to a halt.

He found himself at a loss for words. Which had never happened in his entire life.

 _No plan survives first contact with the enemy._

 _Or a beautiful rabbit._

...

Judy paused as the opposite back door of the limo opened.

And out stepped Nick.

In a tux.

Her imagination couldn't hold a candle to reality.

She desperately tried to control her blush as dozens of her suppressed thoughts over the past several days came flooding back to her.

He walked around to her side of the limo and opened the door for her like a gentlemammal.

She rigidly walked down the steps, but was so focused on her thoughts that she tripped.

Adrenaline bringing her back to reality, she braced herself for the impact of hitting the concrete sidewalk. But she didn't.

Instead, she felt two warm arms wrap around her, holding her just off the ground. She opened her eyes, and found herself face to face with Nick, their noses not even an inch apart. They remained like that for a moment, Nick simply holding her. Then she placed her arms on top of his. Not to push him away; though she honestly wasn't sure what she was going for there. But it seemed to snap Nick out of his own trance. He quickly, yet gently, placed her back on the ground, and motioned for her to step into the limo. When she had sat down inside, he closed her door and walked back around to take his own seat.

Once he was also in, he snapped his fingers and the driver pulled out onto the road, carrying them to their destination.

Judy looked over at him.

He wasn't looking her way, but he was completely at ease! How could he be so calm?

...

Nick was incredibly thankful that he had years of experience masking his emotions. When she had fallen, he had only meant to reach out a hand to steady her. But she had fallen faster than he initially thought, and something instinctual had made him feel a need to catch her. Then he'd found himself with an armful of beautiful bunny, and his razor sharp mind had dulled from a finely honed blade to an old wooden spoon in an instant. He had wanted so badly to kiss her. He didn't know where that had come from. But in that moment, if she had leaned forward, he would have been powerless to resist her.

The thought terrified him.

That this rabbit could hold such sway over him… It shouldn't be possible.

He was determined not to let her get to him.

He put on a relaxed smile, and took the necessary time to master himself once more before taking stock of the current situation.

The situation was that they had been driving for ten minutes, and neither of them had said a word.

Nick felt panic rising in him, but having regained himself he was able to quash it easily. Still, an awkward silence could kill an evening before it even began, and this one had already been left to fester for far too long. Nick's mind raced. He needed to fix this. He could not be seen to blunder now. Sadly, it seemed whatever bewitchment Hopps had put him under was still lingering. His mind was slow to consider any plan that did not involve taking her into his arms again.

Nick had not wanted to scream so much in years.

Then she threw him a lifeline.

"So, how did you know I would be at Vixonic?"

Nick's smile grew.

...

Judy couldn't be sure, but it seemed like Nick's smile changed when she asked him about Vixonic. It had seemed almost strained before. The silence had dragged out so long that Judy had simply blurted the first thing that came to her mind.

Nick shook his head as if it were the simplest thing in the world.

"No offense Carrots, but I knew you didn't have a dress for The Elysium. You practically told me as much when you threw out that bluff about your wardrobe." Without turning his head, he fixed one eye on her. "And every girl ends up at Vixonic when they're dress shopping. It's just a matter of time." He looked forward again. "Granted, you didn't go there until much later than I had expected. I was getting a little worried I'd have to tell you to go get it."

Judy considered his answer for a moment. On a certain level, it made sense. Everyone else in Judy's entourage had been adamant that it was absolutely necessary to stop at Vixonic before settling on any other dress. But something about Nick's explanation rang false to her. He had already displayed a slightly alarming ability to predict her, he had practically read her mind at the hospital. So why would he have assumed that she would act like her sisters and friends had? It just didn't seem—

"You know you're cute when you're thinking?"

Nick's question utterly derailed Judy's thought process.

She opened her mouth to retort, when Kate's words came to mind. 'No cop time! Girl time is now!'

Judy decided not to play into his bait.

She raised an eyebrow at him and did her best to look disinterestedly offended. "You probably wouldn't know, but a bunny can call another bunny cute, but when other animals do it..." She looked away from him, turning her nose up.

 _Let him chew on that._

Judy was proud of herself, she'd successfully evaded his—did he just call her **Carrots**?

"Wait, what did you just call me?" She asked, turning to face him.

"Cute?"

"Wh-No, before that!"

"Hopps?"

"I-you…" Judy huffed and turned away from him once more. This time indignantly pouting.

...

 _Ooh, so close Carrots, you dodged one, but jumped headlong at the other._ Nick thought to himself.

Even so, she'd done marvelously up until she'd realized the nickname he had given her. To be entirely honest, it had just slipped out. But after seeing its effectiveness, Nick had no intention of discarding it. Her pouting expression was absolutely adorable. However, he'd sensed an undercurrent of seriousness in her remark about the word cute, so he doubted the wisdom in riling her up more.

She was sufficiently flustered. Her guard was down. This was what Nick specialized in. Confuse, distract, then strike. His next question would catch her completely flat-footed, and since she wouldn't be prepared, she would answer more honestly than she would have otherwise.

The only problem was, Nick wasn't sure what to ask. There was no real gain here, no deeper plan. In every interaction that Nick had, every day, without exception, he was always carefully playing everyone he spoke to. Giving them ideas he wanted them to have, leading them to believe they held more power than they did, or even simply subtly threatening them. There was always a game to play, a match to win.

But not this time.

"Why did you say yes?"

It took Nick a moment to realize the words were his. He had just asked something terribly dangerous.

An earnest question.

His mind raced for a way to backpedal, to change the course of the conversation, but his mind stagnated once more. Before he could come up with something, Judy answered.

"I… At first, it was because I needed your help…"

He turned to look at her. Her ears had dropped behind her head, her paws were folded in her lap, and she was looking down as though she was ashamed.

"Chief Bogo told me that Mr. Big wanted my badge for what I did to you. He strongly recommended that I do everything in my power to win you over. So when you asked, I didn't think it would be wise to say no."

The silence stretched for an uncomfortable moment.

"Ah." Nick cursed himself for not having something better to say. This rabbit's blatant honesty was something Nick was wholly unprepared for. He was used to reading subtext and bandying words with people who would've been happy to see him dead. Genuine openness made him uncomfortable.

"Well, that's fine, Carrots, we don't need to-" Nick began. But Judy suddenly turned to face him. He saw the same stubborn fierceness in her eyes he had seen in the hospital.

"But there's more to it than that."

Nick raised an eyebrow.

"I won't pretend that I don't want your help keeping my job. I do. But that night in the slums you did in a few minutes what I've been trying to do my whole life. You made a difference." She scooted closer, and placed her paw over his. "You didn't walk away because it was hard. You didn't let old scars keep you from doing good. You didn't hide from prejudice. And you didn't look for a reward. You helped those girls because it was the right thing to do." Her grip on his paw tightened as she looked down once more. "And look what it got you. Tased and stabbed by a hypocritical bunny." She turned back to look him in the eye. "I've spent my whole life fighting against mammals who refused to see anything more than a little country bunny when they look at me. I should never have made any assumptions about you. I want you to know that I can see more than a fox. I see someone who went out of their way to do good. I see Nick Wilde. I see you."

As she spoke, she leaned closer and closer.

Nick's heart hammered in his chest. His worst fear in life had become reality. He was in a situation in which he had absolutely no control, and he had no idea what to do. His mind felt like it was going to tear itself into pieces. He couldn't find the angle, the right play. One part of him wanted to gently push her away and put the normal walls back up, make sure she knew she wasn't welcome. One part of him wanted to play the whole thing off like it was all meaningless. One part of him genuinely wanted to open the door, leap out of the limo, and keep running until he was home. And a distressingly large part of him wanted to lean down and kiss her. It would be so easy. She was already so close. He just needed to move a little more—

HE WAS ACTUALLY MOVING.

His head snapped backward so fast he very nearly collided with the window.

 _What is wrong with me? Why is she getting to me?_

Judy could clearly see that something was wrong. He needed her to not ask any questions right now. Because he didn't have any answers for her.

Judy's mouth opened to question him, but she was interrupted by the driver.

"Here we are, Mr. Wilde!"

Nick's mind finally started working again, and he was able to regain control of himself. His signature grin bloomed on his muzzle, and he opened the door and stepped out. He walked to the other side and held the door open for Judy, motioning for her to follow him. As she began to climb out, he took one of her paws in his own. She looked up at him, a faint blush forming on her cheeks.

"Wouldn't want you to fall again." Nick said.

Her blush grew, but she beamed at him.

Nick felt like a king.

As they walked to the entrance, Judy slipped her arm around his.

Nick quickly stamped down an unfamiliar feeling of butterflies in his stomach.

...

The entrance to The Elysium was an enormous mural depicting the fabled fields of the afterlife, where heroes of ancient lore spent eternity in luxury as their reward for their incredible deeds. The doors to the restaurant were placed where the entrance to the fields would be, a not-so-subtle statement that you were entering paradise on earth.

As Judy and Nick walked in, a slender female deer greeted them.

"Mr. Wilde, so good to see you this evening." She said, inclining her head to the two of them. "If you'll follow me upstairs, your table is ready."

Judy marveled at the sprawling interior of the building. Red velvet carpeting stretched from wall to wall. Each chair in the building looked hand carved and painstakingly maintained. The seating options varied to accommodate any possible mammal, and the vaulted ceiling would allow even the tallest of giraffes to sit up straight without brushing against it. The second floor wrapped around the edges of the walls, and a massive crystal chandelier hung in the center of the building, providing gentle mood lighting to everyone inside. The enormous staircase towards the back ran perpendicular to the back wall, until halfway up its length it split into opposite directions. It too was built with varying sizes of guest in mind, having multiple railways and even cordoned off sections to the side for the smaller mammals. But as they crested the top of the stairs, they continued walking past several empty tables. Judy turned to look at Nick, the question plain on her face.

"Oh, I've got something special prepared for tonight, Carrots."

"Here we are." The deer said.

Judy turned back towards her, and saw that their table was on a small private terrace. The table was just big enough for the two of them. Intimate was the term that immediately sprang to Judy's mind. It was beautifully decorated, a variety of flowers ran along the edges of the railing, candles provided much softer mood lighting, and a bottle of wine was chilling in an ice bucket next to the table, wine glasses ready and waiting. But the most noticeable thing to Judy was the view. She had seen much of Zootopia in her three months living there as an officer. But she had very seldom had (or rather taken) the time to actually go sight-seeing. The train ride into the city on her very first day had been the most she had seen of it at any one time. But here, she could see two-thirds of the city, sprawled out before her. The glittering neon brilliance of the largest metropolis in the world took her breath away.

She was brought back to the moment when Nick slipped his arm out of hers and walked over to pull her chair out for her.

As she sat down she pretended to swoon. "Oh my, what a gentlemammal."

"I'm only just getting started Carrots. Wait until you see the meal."

Judy noticed that the waitress had not left them any menus. "What, I don't get to pick out something myself?" She said, feigning hurt. "I might never get to come here again."

"Exactly." Nick responded. "That's why I had the chef prepare something special."

Judy's eyes widened. "You know the chef?"

"There's not a mammal in this city that I don't know. Well, except you, it seems." Nick said with a wink. "I helped him out of a tight spot a while back, so he owed me a favor."

A question that Judy had been chewing on for days suddenly came to the forefront. She considered whether it would be wise to ask it. But given that she might never have the chance to ask Nick in person again, she decided it was worth the risk.

"What exactly do you do anyway? What makes you so important to a mammal like Mr. Big?"

Nick raised an eyebrow at her. "What, a fox has to be special to be important to someone."

This time it slid right off her. "You know that's not what I meant."

"Do I know what you meant?" Nick asked, scratching his chin as though he were considering some philosophical quandary.

Judy crossed her arms and smirked at him. "Don't try and give me the runaround, Wilde. I've put smatter mammals than you away."

Nick focused on her more intently, and she saw a gleam in his eye as he responded. "I sincerely doubt that, Carrots."

He leaned back, draping one arm over the back of his chair.

"But to answer your question, I'm something of a professional problem solver."

"Problem solver? That's not very specific."

"No, it's not. Because I don't specifically handle any particular area. I handle anything and everything that needs handling." Nick leaned forward and began to gesture with his hands as he spoke. "Let's say Mr. Big wants to make a deal with another business, a joint venture that will make both companies a tidy profit. But, uh oh, someone over there doesn't like Mr. Big! They're living in the past, and don't want to play ball with 'criminal scum.'" Nick leaned forward and whispered conspiratorially, "We've actually been called that several times." He returned to his previous stance before continuing. "So, they're well within their rights to turn us down, and we have never condoned any form of excessive physical persuasion, so what do we do? That's where I come in. I do some research, find out what the other side wants or needs, and how to provide it. They get what they want, we get what we want, everyone walks away happy." Nick finished with a shrug, as though it was the simplest thing in the world.

Judy tapped her chin in thought.

"So what happens when they still won't work with you?"

"I keep working them until they do."

"Yeah, ok, but some mammals are really stubborn. And just because you have something they want doesn't mean you have something they need. So, just for the sake of argument, what would you do if someone just utterly refused to work with you at all based off of nothing but personal preference?"

Nick's smile never faded, in fact his facial expression never changed at all. But something Judy couldn't quantify suggested that there was a slight tense agitation in Nick. As though he was remembering something unpleasant.

He shook his head. "Then we just have to move on. You can't force someone to work with you." He turned away, looking out across the city. "You start bending arms, before you know it you're breaking legs. That's a hole with no bottom, and no way to climb back out."

The way he said it made Judy think there was more to this than he was saying. She was considering pressing further, when the food arrived.

Judy was amazed. Two waiters pushed up two carts almost overflowing with a rainbow of foods. Dishes made with beets, turnips, beans, cauliflower, carrots (of course), and an array of other fruits and vegetables. Each dish carried a different scent, having been prepared and flavored with all manner of spices, many of which Judy was familiar with, but many she had never smelled before.

Each plate was small, just big enough to contain the food on it, and each serving was only a few bites' worth.

Nick spoke as he unrolled his silverware and placed his napkin in his lap. "I've never actually been here myself, Carrots. And I figured neither of us might get another chance to visit. So I asked the chef to prepare a minor portion of all the most popular dishes available. We get to try everything this place has to offer. Including the desserts when we're done with the main course."

...

Judy was very impressed, and it showed clearly on her face. Nick felt more like his usual self now. This was his element.

Now would be the perfect time for another probing question. But as he considered the opportunity, he remembered what had happened in the limo. He wasn't supposed to be the one being laid bare here. He would need to be more careful going forward. In fact, how much further did he intend to go? As he had noted previously, there was no gain for him here. Judy— **Hopps** —had nothing he wanted, nor the capacity to positively influence his plans. This was all just a game.

While he was busy thinking, Judy caught him off guard yet again.

"Oh my goodness, this is so good! Nick, you have to try this!"

Nick looked up from the dish he had been fiddling with during his musing. Judy was standing up in her chair, leaning forward, holding her fork out to Nick. She was feeding him.

 _Adorable._

The thought came unbidden to Nick's mind, and was quickly dismissed. He considered turning her down, but found he couldn't bring himself to. He told himself it was because it would ruin the atmosphere.

He leaned forward and made a show of savoring the bite she had offered him, withdrawing his muzzle from her fork slowly, without opening his mouth. The food was in fact quite delicious, but he hammed it up anyway.

Judy giggled.

Nick's chest tightened. He desperately sought to shift his train of thought, before more descriptions arose about Judy. About **Hopps**. This was not good.

Nick realized as he swallowed the bite that there was something else he was tasting. It was very faint, almost imperceptible, but wonderful. He wracked his brain trying to place it. He knew every spice that was in these dishes, and how they tasted. But as he ran down the list, none fit the flavor.

Judy took another bite of something, and made a quiet squeak of delight as she held her fork in her mouth, enjoying the morsel. And it clicked. What Nick was tasting…was rabbit.

He unconsciously licked his lips.

Judy was excitedly taking bites of every dish in turn, each earning sounds of wonder and delight from her. Nick felt himself smile. But it wasn't his usual smirk. It wasn't a mask, it wasn't a deflection, it was an earnest smile. This was very dangerous.

Nick needed to decide how far he would allow this to go before he extricated himself from it all. He could not afford a complication as big as Judy could potentially be.

"You see those freaks over there? It makes me sick."

Nick's ear twitched in the direction of the comment, but he made no move to turn and look at whoever made it. As he watched Judy, he saw one of her own ears swivel towards the speaker. But she never turned, keeping her eyes on Nick.

"How about we try some of that wine?" She asked.

Nick's grin broadened. "Thought you'd never ask Carrots.

...

As Judy finished her macaron, Nick checked his phone to confirm that everything was ready at the park. He had a carriage ride planned that would take them to the best ice cream place in the entire city. It was a lovely little shop owned by a Zebra couple who made all the ice cream by hoof. Nick had helped them keep their shop when some idiot had tried to sue them for not providing non-dairy options, and therefore being discriminatory. The mammal had simply been trying to get rid of them so he could buy the shop, which was in an excellent location. He'd had friends that had been helping him push the lawsuit through. Nick had had more. But since Nick had helped them out for free, they always saved a few fresh scoops of his favorite Belgian chocolate. He would let Judy get whatever she wanted, but she definitely had to try it.

He finished paying (in cash, as always) and left a generous tip. Then stood and offered his arm to Judy. She took it gladly.

They continued to chat as they walked out, having become more and more comfortable with each other as the evening had progressed. When they walked out of The Elysium, Judy scanned the parking lot.

"Where's the limo?" She asked.

"We walk for now." He tilted his muzzle towards her. "I'm not letting you go just yet Carrots, I've got more planned."

Judy narrowed her eyes at him, but couldn't stop herself from smiling. "Oh? Does the sly fox have something up his sleeve?"

Nick's grin showed plenty of teeth. "This fox always does."

Judy laughed, and it made Nick's heart soar. Everyone always assumed that Nick was a threat. That he was dangerous and they needed to be careful around him. But here was this rabbit that he had just met, arm wrapped around his, laughing when he makes threatening comments. Sure, he didn't actually mean it, but that had never seemed to matter before.

Nick was really starting to like this rabbit.

As they rounded another corner on their way to the park, they saw a wolf standing under a street-light holding a map. He looked terribly confused. As they approached, he turned towards them, a look of hope coming over his face.

"Please, could you help me? I don't know where I am." He asked.

Judy unwound her arm from Nick's and began walking towards the wolf, her paw outstretched for the map.

Before Nick could say or do anything the wolf's left paw shot out, wrapping around Judy's neck, her paws moving up to fruitlessly try to pry herself free. He yanked her close to him and drew out a knife with his right paw.

"Don't you move, fox. Or else the bunny dies." The wolf growled.

Nick put his paws in the air. The fog in his mind lifted instantly. His thoughts were so crystal clear that time seemed to slow around him. He could make out every individual thread of the wolf's rough vest. Could hear the unnaturally fast rhythm of his breathing. He could see the fear and hope mingled in Judy's eyes, and her own agitated panting. He could hear the blood pumping through his veins like a waterfall. Adrenaline was pouring through his system, and he needed to be very careful not to let it carry him away.

The wolf's breathing was Nick's first clue that he was drugged. Nick's peripheral vision picked up track marks on the wolf's right arm. The last piece of evidence was the wolf's eyes. They were too dilated for a mammal who had been standing under a street-light. That meant this situation was even more dangerous. A random mugger could possibly have been dealt with. A mugger with a hostage can be appeased or bought off. But a druggy looking for his next score was unpredictable. Even if Nick did everything the wolf asked, he was still just as likely to crush Judy's throat and come at Nick with the knife. That really only left one option.

All this ran through Nick's mind in just a few seconds, before the wolf spoke again.

"I saw the two of you leave that restaurant, so I know you're loaded fox. I want your phone, your wallet, and that fancy watch of yours."

The watch he was referring to was a gold-plated custom watch that Mr. Big had given Nick on the 10th anniversary of the day they had begun working together.

It held no sentimental value to Nick.

Nick slowly removed his watch, then took out his phone next. When he produced his wallet, he made sure to fumble with it so the wolf could see all the cash inside. He could practically hear the wolf begin to salivate.

"Good boy. Now hand it here."

Nick heard a gasp from Judy as the wolf's grip tightened.

Nick held out his valuables and took one step towards the wolf. The moment the wolf's eyes shifted to them, Nick threw them forward, just above the height of the wolf's head. The wolf instinctually reached up to catch them, his grip on both the knife and Judy relaxing. Nick moved in a blur.

Two hard jabs to the wolf's gut, and he lost his grip on both Judy and the knife. Judy fell to her knees, clutching her throat. Nick hammered the wolf as hard as he could, but the wolf had already recovered enough to have his guard up. Nick was faster, but the wolf was sturdier. Not only that, but it was clear that his drug-addled brain was preventing the wolf from feeling pain normally. He was starting to regain himself.

The wisest course of action would be to backpedal, recover, and prepare for another exchange of blows. However, that would place Judy in further danger. Nick would not allow that. He summoned every ounce of strength he had, and proceeded to attack the wolf with everything he could muster. He punched at every unguarded body part, and did equal damage with several well-placed kicks. He could see surprise in the wolf's expression.

The most effective way to fight an opponent that is stronger than you, is to not fight them. Failing that, you must make sure that they never have an opportunity to strike you. An endless series of consecutive blows can keep an opponent off-balance. And if you can maintain it long enough, you can exhaust your opponent before they even have a chance to attack.

But it wouldn't be enough. Nick had backed the wolf into a nearby alley, to prevent him from jumping past Nick to get to Judy, and he intended to drag this fight out as long as he could to give her time to get away. Then the wolf began to fight back. Nick dodged most of the blows, slow and poorly aimed as they were. But he had already spent so much energy pushing his larger opponent back that he couldn't dodge them all. Each blow made Nick slower, easier to hit. It was time for his final gambit. He would feint high, then punch the wolf in his stomach as hard as he possibly could, then tackle him to the ground. It wouldn't keep him down, but it would give Judy the largest window of time to escape. She might have already been gone, in which case the gesture would be pointless and possibly result in his death besides. Nick was comfortable taking that chance.

He feinted, the wolf blocked high, and Nick caught him full in the gut. The wolf stumbled back, winded but not down, and let out a wheezing chuckle.

"Never thought I'd see a fox *huff huff* go so far to protect a bunny." He croaked. "You must be one of those _interspecies_ freaks."

As the wolf began to get up, Nick straightened himself, preparing to jump him when he tried to stand. That would be when he was most unsteady.

Nick saw his moment, and flexed to strike. But he paused when he felt a gentle pressure on his shoulder.

It was Judy vaulting up and over him. She used Nick as a pivot, pushing off of him and slamming both feet into the wolf's chest. The wolf flew back, and as he hit the wall there was a loud *whunk* as his head snapped back and collided as well. The wolf crumpled unconscious against the wall. Judy landed in Nick's outstretched arms.

They simply stared at each other a moment.

 _This bunny is amazing_. Nick thought.

Before either of them could say anything, they heard a scream behind them.

Nick turned, still holding Judy in his arms, to see a female pig across the street, on the phone and speaking quickly. She was apparently on the phone with the police. "Yes, yes I'd like to report an assault! A fox just jumped a wolf and a small bunny on the street! He's beaten the poor wolf senseless, and now he's kidnapping the bunny! Please hurry!"

Nick would normally have responded with tact. Instead he growled and shouted, "Hey!"

The pig screamed in terror and fled down the street.

Nick sighed and walked back out onto the sidewalk.

"Nick, we should probably go." Judy said quietly.

"No, Carrots, if we leave, then the police will think I actually did kidnap you. They'll take that wolf to the hospital and ask him about the 'big bad fox what jumped him.'" Nick shook his head. "He'll be turned loose back on the streets, and they'll be keeping an eye out for me instead. No, we stay here." He looked down at her and grinned. "I'm afraid I'll have to ask you to defend my honor, madam."

Judy beamed up at him. "Anything for my poor prince."

They stayed like that for a moment, smiling and looking into each other's eyes. Then Nick remembered he was holding her in his arms. He became flustered. The realization of which only flustered him more.

He gently set her down, then they both sat down on the sidewalk together.

They sat for a time, letting the silence last.

As Judy opened her mouth to speak, police sirens blared just around the corner. Two patrol cars roared down the street, skidding to a stop just in front of them. A jackal and wolf jumped out of one, and a lion out of the other, while a fourth officer stayed in the vehicle and radioed in. The three officers pointed tranq guns at Nick and shouted for him to step away from the bunny and put his hands in the air. Judy walked over and attempted to explain, but the lion grabbed her and tossed her into his patrol car, telling her she was safe now and not to try and open the door. After he closed it, Judy desperately tried to get back out, but the safety lock prevented her from opening the door. The jackal had Nick pinned to the ground, and was cuffing him, while the wolf officer went to check on the unconscious mugger. Judy banged on the door, trying to get the officer's attention.

"Hopps?"

Judy's head swiveled around. The fourth officer, the one who had stayed in the car, was a familiar tiger.

"Fangmeyer!" Judy shouted with relief. "You have to tell them they have the wrong mammal! Nick didn't do this!"

"Nick? You mean the fox?" He asked.

"Yes! The wolf is the one who attacked us! He almost killed me! Nick saved my life!"

Fangmeyer placed his paw to his chin in thought, as though this were some great conundrum.

Judy waited a few moments, then saw Nick being led to the back of the other patrol car.

"Fangmeyer!" She shouted.

The tiger snapped out of his musings. "Right, yes, sorry Hopps." He opened the door and started to get out. "Don't worry, I'll straighten all this out." He stepped out at closed the door.

He walked over to the other officers and began explaining what Judy had told him. Judy couldn't make out everything that he was saying, but she could tell that the other officers weren't ready to turn Nick loose. The Wolf officer walked back to his vehicle to radio in, apparently wanting to confirm whether or not Judy was an officer. While he did so, Judy noticed that Fangmeyer pulled Nick aside and began speaking to him quietly. The two had a quick conversation, ending with Fangmeyer jabbing a finger at Nick and growling something at him, while Nick simply smiled up at him. Judy wasn't sure why, but she didn't think that smile had much mirth in it.

The wolf officer stomped back over, clearly frustrated, but he released Nick from his cuffs. Nick inclined his head and thanked him. The wolf simply snorted derisively. The wolf, jackal, and lion then went to retrieve the mugger. Fangmeyer came over and opened the door to his cruiser so that Judy could get out. His expression tightened when he saw Nick take Judy's paw and help her down.

"Thank you, Fang." Judy said.

Fangmeyer simply nodded curtly.

He watched the two of them leave, and as they rounded the corner, he muttered under his breath.

"This isn't over, Wilde."

...

They walked a ways in silence, still holding paws.

When Nick let her paw go, Judy felt like someone had just ripped a band-aid off of her. But the feeling was dismissed quickly when he wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her close. He drew her to a stop and looked down at her.

"You should have taken that chance to run."

"And you should have given the mugger what he wanted."

"He was going to hurt you."

"And he was going to hurt you."

They stood there on the sidewalk. Nick brought his free paw up and stroked Judy's cheek with back of his knuckles.

Then he tilted her chin up and kissed her.

The kiss wasn't long, but it was everything Judy needed it to be. It was like electricity bounced through her. When Nick pulled away, she almost chased after him.

"I think," she began, resting her head on his chest and sighing, "that we should call it a night."

"Agreed, Carrots."

Judy smiled.

Nick pulled out his phone with his right paw, but his left arm never let Judy go.

They waited on the corner like that for a few minutes, before the limo pulled around to pick them up.

The ride back was silent, the two content to let their contact do the talking for them.

When they pulled to a stop, Judy started to scoot towards the door. Nick gently stopped her.

"Ah ah, Carrots, allow me."

Judy smiled to herself as he walked around the limo and opened the door for her, once again taking her paw as she got out.

"Thank you for tonight. For everything." She said, hugging him.

"I could say the same to you." Nick said, returning the hug.

As Judy pulled away, Nick followed her. A thought struck her. She turned to look at Nick and raised an eyebrow.

"You're not, um, expecting… _coffee_ , are you?"

Nick stared at her for a moment before he burst out laughing. Judy huffed and crossed her arms. Her foot began tapping as Nick's laughter carried on.

Finally, he began quieting down, and chuckled as he answered.

"No, no Carrots, I'm not expecting anything." He cleared his throat before continuing. "Besides, I'm the one who's supposed to bring that up." He said, waggling his eyebrows.

Judy blushed and gave him a playful shove.

They arrived at the door, and Judy noticed that something was off. The door didn't look right. Neither did the building.

Judy turned back to Nick.

"Um, this isn't my apartment."

"Astute observation, officer. It's mine."

Judy sputtered. "Y-wh-We can't! I mean, it's just that-"

Nick placed a finger over her mouth to shush her.

"Hey, I was serious before. I'm not asking anything of you." He took her paw and squeezed it gently. "But you shouldn't be alone tonight. It's been barely a half hour, if that, since you..." He looked away and then back at her. "Since you were imperiled. In a bit, all the adrenaline is going to work its way through your system, and the weight of this is going to hit you like a truck. I highly doubt you've ever been through anything this traumatic. You shouldn't try and handle it by yourself."

Judy knew that what Nick was saying made sense, but she really did feel fine.

 _We're both ok, so why would there be anything to freak out about?_

She opened her mouth to argue.

"Judy, please."

He had never once called her Judy. Officer Hopps, Ms. Hopps, Hopps, Carrots, Officer, and madam, but never her actual name. Something in the way he spoke it took the fight out of her. He wasn't asking her to do anything she wasn't comfortable with. He was just worried about her. What was the harm?

"Sheesh, alright then you big doofus. Let's get going, it's chilly out here."

She wrapped her arm around his as he opened the door, and they stepped inside.


	13. Chapter 13

Friday – 9:45 PM

Judy was astounded by Nick's apartment. It was at the top floor of his building, and consisted of four separate rooms. The bedroom, the bathroom, Nick's office, and a combined kitchen/living room the size of two rooms, with a hallway connecting all four.

His furniture was all sleek dark tones, in very modern styles. There was a terrace that connected the living room and bedroom. The view from it was almost as amazing as the one she had seen at The Elysium.

It was incredible.

There was just one problem.

Judy couldn't stop crying.

Everything was fine. She and Nick were both ok. But she could not stop crying.

They had walked in, and she had felt perfectly normal, if a little tired. Nick had made her a mug of warm tea, and they had simply sat on the couch together, talking and enjoying each other's company. Then Judy had started to fidget. Her breathing had started becoming faster. She kept glancing around the room. Her paws started shaking. She had started to feel like she was going to explode.

Then Nick had reached over and taken the mug from her. He pulled her close, and started rubbing her back gently. That's when the tears had started flowing. Judy felt like she was making a fool of herself. She had tried to sob out an apology, but she couldn't quite form words at the moment. Nick had understood though.

Eventually, she had cried herself out, and she felt exhausted.

She sat there on the couch, and just let Nick hold her for a time. Neither was sure how long it was.

"Thank you, Nick." She sniffled.

"Happy to help, Fluff." Nick said, smiling.

Judy rolled her eyes. Just how many nicknames was she going to have?

She pulled away from him and stood up.

"I should really get going. It's a long way back to my apartment."

Nick arched an eyebrow at her. "You think you're going back now?"

"Nick, I can't sleep here, I don't have any, um, you know… clothes."

"We can fix that in the morning." Unable to help himself, he added in a suggestive tone, "I'll finally get to help you pick something out."

Judy blushed furiously. She bit her lip and looked away for a moment. Then turned back to him and said, "Nick, even if I stay, I don't think I could actually sleep right now, if I go back to my apartment then I can at least-"

"Stay up all night long, but probably suffer from another panic attack that you'll fruitlessly try to work your way through on your own, ultimately losing any ground you've gained thus far and making it harder to deal with this and move on." Nick finished for her.

She began to protest, but could only sheepishly mumble a weak retort.

Nick walked over to his kitchen and rooted around in his cabinets for a moment. He pulled a small medicine bottle out and tossed it to Judy. As he began fixing her a glass of water, Judy read over the label. It was an over-the-counter headache medicine, with an added effect of promoting deeper and easier sleep. Nick walked over and handed her the glass.

"It's meant to help you sleep through severe headaches, but it also helps you sleep in general. Non-addictive, and kinda forces you to wind down after a crazy day. Like today." He said.

Judy looked up at Nick. She could see something in his smile that made her want to reach out to him. So she did. She set the glass down on the coffee table, then stood up and walked over to him, wrapping her arms around him.

"Thank you, Nick. For everything tonight."

Nick hesitated a moment, then leaned down slightly and returned the tight embrace. They lingered like that a short while, Judy drawing stability from Nick's presence, and Nick telling that small voice in the back of his head to go jump off a bridge.

Eventually, Nick broke the hug.

"Alright Carrots, take your medicine and get ready for bed."

Judy smiled at him as she popped two of the small pills in her mouth. As she washed them down, she realized she had not considered a rather obvious problem.

"Um, Nick?"

He had been walking back to his bedroom to change, but paused and turned back towards her.

"I, um, don't have any pajamas, either." She said, blushing slightly.

The smile that bloomed on Nick's face made her heart shift up a few gears.

"You could always just sleep in your fur." He said.

The pillow she threw caught him full in the face. He didn't even flinch though. And as it dropped to the floor, his facial expression hadn't changed. But before she could throw another one, he surrendered.

"Kidding, Fluff, kidding!" He said, raising his hands in front of himself. "You can just borrow one of my t-shirts. Don't worry, they're plenty big enough to preserve your modesty. And like I said, we can figure out the rest in the morning."

With that, he walked back into his bedroom to change.

Judy sat back down on the couch to wait for him. She picked the medicine bottle back up and read over it. According to the dosage instructions, it would take 20 minutes before she began to feel more relaxed, allowing her to fall asleep easily. She set the bottle back down and sighed. Her mind felt like it was running on overdrive right now, and every little sound she heard was causing her ears to swivel in its direction. Her muscles were getting tired from constantly being tense, ready to leap away from danger at any moment.

Nick had only just left the room, but already she missed his presence. Before tonight, Judy had always fought her own battles. True, part of the reason was because she **wanted** to fight her own battles. She was a cute little bunny after all, and if someone else stood up for her then she would never be taken seriously; she pouted. But another part of it was that no one else had ever wanted to fight for her. She grabbed one of the other pillows on the couch and clutched it to herself. It smelled like Nick, and that made her feel better. She could still see the look in Nick's eyes when the wolf had grabbed her. In the short time she had known him, he had always seemed jovial and unconcerned. Not like he didn't care about anything, but like he knew he could survive anything so he just took everything in stride. But in that moment, she had seen steel enter his eyes. She saw him size up the wolf, define his strengths and weaknesses, and devise a battle plan, all in the span of a few seconds. She had tried to speak, to tell Nick to run, then Nick had thrown his wallet. As the wolf released her, Nick had moved like a blur past her, delivering a melee combination so effective it could have put the paw-to-paw instructors at the academy to shame. He had given her the time she needed to recover, and she had started to call out to him and tell him to run once again. But when he knocked the wolf to his knees, she knew what Nick was planning. And she knew the wolf would kill him. Her body had moved on its own, and by the time her mind caught up, she was already leaping to grab Nick's shoulder, getting ready to throw everything she had into the wolf in one shot, just like Nick had only moments before. Then she had landed in his arms. Nick had seemed so surprised. So impressed. But she didn't really notice at the time. The only thing she noticed, the only she cared about, the only thing that really mattered to her in that moment, was that Nick was safe. He was safe, and they were together. They had taken a chance on each other, and together, they had overcome an obstacle neither could have tackled alone.

It made her feel equal parts giddy and childish, thinking about it likes this.

But she found herself wondering why Fangmeyer had been bearing down on Nick after the mugging. He was normally one of the calmest officers she knew, always steady in the face of danger and chaos. But for some reason, seeing Nick had apparently put him on edge. Judy wanted to ask Nick about it, but decided that it didn't need to be pursued tonight.

She heard Nick's door open, and he walked back into the den wearing a gray t-shirt and a pair of black polyester shorts.

She smirked at him. "My my, you certainly dress to impress, Mr. Wilde."

He gave her a mock bow. "I aim to please, Ms. Hopps." Then he threw her a wadded up white t-shirt that would have looked big even on him.

She unfurled it and read the front, which had obnoxiously bright text superimposed over a large roller-coaster. "Wilde times? What's that?"

"Hm? Oh, just an old pipe dream that never quite came to fruition. I'll tell you about it later." Nick turned to walk towards the terrace. "Feel free to use the facilities, I need to make a quick phone call before bed."

Judy chuckled to herself. _Facilities?_ Then she turned and walked down the hallway and into the bathroom to change.

...

Nick slid the door to the den closed as he stepped out onto the terrace. Pulling out his phone, he scrolled through his contacts until he found who he was looking for. The line rang twice before Finnick picked up.

"Wilde? It's frickin late man, whadda you want? Your date already over? *snicker* Was she unimpressed by the size of your 'carrot'?"

"Finn, I want you to check the on-duty staff of the overnight lockup for this section of the city. Find us a man on our payroll who could deliver a message to one of the prisoners, then send me his contact information."

"Wait, why do you need to talk to one of our cops? We've got no one inside right now. Plus, aren't we trying to avoid connections with the police right now? And hold up, **you** want to talk to him? You never talk to anyone you don't have to."

"…I have to."

"…Nick, what's going on?"

"I'll explain when I have the time, Finn. Get me a number."

*sigh* "Fine, fine, but you better explain this tomorrow. Keep your phone on you."

"Will do, thanks, Finn."

Nick ended the call and slipped his phone back into his pocket. For a moment, he rested his hands against the railing and just looked out over the city.

The face of the wolf flashed through his mind. He had looked so smug, holding Judy's throat. He'd held her life in his paw, and had every intention of taking it from her, whether Nick had paid or not. He would have killed Nick too, given the chance. Nick's grip on the railing tightened.

 _So you like to play with lives, huh?_

A vicious grin spread across Nick's muzzle.

 _Well, I know how to play that game too. And I'm better at it than you._

Nick realized he was clenching his jaw so hard that he was grinding his teeth, and his grip on the railing had become so tight it was painful. He let go and stepped back, taking a deep breath as he composed himself. Once he was calm, he brought his smirk back to his face and stepped back inside.

Judy was fluffing pillows on the couch, clearly getting ready to sleep on it. Nick involuntarily stopped to admire the way she looked wearing his shirt. He thought she looked even better now than she had before.

He quickly dismissed that particular thought.

"And just what do you think you're doing?" He asked, walking over to her.

She turned to look at him with a wry expression. "Getting ready to sleep." She said, knowing it was rather obvious.

"You think I'm going to let you sleep out here? No way, fluff, that would be horribly uncouth of me to allow a lady sleep on the couch. You'll be sleeping in my bed tonight." He said, leering.

Judy blushed furiously. Nick's grin broadened. They both knew he'd said it that way on purpose.

"Nick, no, I can't kick you out of your bed, that's not—eep!"

Without waiting for her to finish, Nick scooped her up in his arms and carried her back to his bedroom. Judy's nose was practically vibrating, and she was chewing her lip while she desperately searched for a response.

They arrived at the bed, and Nick carefully situated her so that he kept her aloft with one arm while he drew the covers back with the other. Then set her down on the mattress.

He loomed over her, an arm on either side of her. Judy's heart hammered in her chest, her blush so heavy it could easily be seen even in the dim lighting of the bedroom. He was leaning closer and closer. Half of Judy was screaming she couldn't do this. The other half was adamant that she could. None of her could make her move.

Nick pecked her on the cheek, and then brought the covers back over her, tucking her in.

"Goodnight, Carrots." He whispered into her ear as he clicked the bedside lamp off.

He turned and headed for the door.

Judy felt like she had just run several miles at full tilt, and her brain was trying to process that nothing was currently happening, and why it wasn't.

"Nick…"

He looked back.

"Um, could you stay, just for a bit?"

He arched an eyebrow at her.

"I was serious, Fluff, I'm not looking for-"

"No no, I'm not asking for you to—um… Can you just stay with me, until I fall asleep? I… I don't want to be alone right now…" She said sheepishly, ears folding back and eyes looking down.

The smile Nick turned towards her warmed her heart.

"Alright, until you fall asleep." He said softly.

He walked back over to the bed, laying down behind Judy, but on top of the covers. He wrapped one arm around her and slipped the other under his pillow. Judy sighed happily and snuggled into him. She was delighted to notice that his tail curled up around her protectively. She purred quietly.

With that, the two enjoyed the closeness and the peaceful silence. Before long, Judy was snoring quietly. Nick smiled. He realized he'd been doing that a lot tonight. Not smirking, not putting on a façade, but genuinely smiling.

 _What is this bunny doing to me?_ He thought.

His phone buzzed.

He carefully extricated himself from Judy, being certain not to wake her, then walked back out onto the terrace. He checked his phone to see that Fininck had sent him the contact information for one Robert Fields, a horse officer on duty tonight at this district's lockup.

Nick's grin showed far too many teeth.

As the line connected, a bored voice answered. "Yes, who is this?"

"My name is Nick Wilde."

There was a clatter as the mammal clearly sat up very quickly, knocking several things over on his desk.

"Y-yes sir! What can, uh, what can I do for you, um, sir?" The horse asked quickly.

"I need you to get a message to one of your prisoners, Robert. Now listen carefully."

* * *

 **A/N: Hey! I'm not dead, and neither is this story!**

 **Updates are gonna be a bit sparse in the coming weeks. I'm helping to write a PHD dissertation, and research is consuming my life.**  
 **But don't worry, I'm not gonna quit writing entirely.**

 **Also, I may start another story soon, writing both it and 'No Right Answers' at the same time. I'm not sure yet, but I think it might help my creative flow if I stretch my literary legs, so to speak.**

 **Reviews always appreciated!**


	14. Chapter 14 - 1

Gus the rhino sat quietly in the small dark room. It was meant as a punishment for disobedient or dangerous prisoners, but he rather enjoyed the silence of solitary confinement. He'd been stuck in here for months, after he'd nearly gored another inmate a month ago. Honestly he hadn't had any problem with him, he just wanted to get some peace and quiet.

He was surprised when the tumblers on the heavy steel door groaned as they were unlocked. The door opened to reveal several officers, most of them megafauna, all in combat gear. He grinned to himself. He did have quite the reputation.

A horse officer stepped forward. "This room needs to be inspected for possible health hazards, you'll be staying in overnight lockup for the next few hours. Follow me please."

Gus made no move to comply. He knew a load of crap when he heard it. The fact that none of these officers so much as blinked at it made him immediately suspicious. He had heard of prison hits before. Dirty cops bought off, prisoners forced to move, and a gunshot that for some reason no one could pinpoint. He had no interest in that.

As the rhino began to turn back around to face the wall, the horse pulled out a small envelope and held it out to him. "By the way, you got a letter from your mother today."

Gus froze. His mother had been dead for more than a decade. Which could only mean…

He reached out and took the envelope from the horse, who immediately backed away. Gus turned it over to see two initials printed on the front. N.W.

The smile that grew on the rhino's face caused the assembled officers to shift uncomfortably.

...

Gus lumbered down the hall, following the horse at a steady pace. Everyone was trying very hard to seem like they weren't rushing down the hall to be free of the rhino.

 _Just don't think about it. Just don't think about it._ Officer Fields repeated this like a mantra as he walked down the hall. He knew what Gus was in here for. He knew what the rhino was capable of. And Nick Wilde had asked for him to be placed in overnight lockup for at least two hours. Had even supplied the reason for why he would be temporarily transferred. But the fact that the rhino had been clearly about to ignore them, then cooperated more freely than he ever had in years once he'd seen Wilde's note… Fields was in over his head. This fox had more power in his paw than even the mayor. Fields just wanted to leave the city altogether.

But he'd tried once. He'd saved up enough for his family to live comfortably, found a job out in some remote country town, and bought tickets with a dummy account he'd set up a while back. Everything was ready, and he had been as careful as he could. But a week before he was set to leave, he got a call from his new employers saying they had had a change in management, and the position no longer existed. He got an email from the Zootopian train system's website saying there was a problem with his tickets, so they had been canceled and his money refunded. Then he'd gotten a call from the bank. They apologized for the mixup with his accounts. They had fixed the error and merged his accounts for his own convenience.

Then he found the note on his desk that morning. Same envelope as tonight. Same initials printed in the exact same way. All it said was, 'Not yet. Don't try again.' Fields never had. He'd been doing odds and ends for Wilde ever since. But nothing like this. He felt like he was presiding over an execution. He wanted to warn the poor soul that Gus was meant for. But Fields didn't know anything besides where the rhino was supposed to be tonight. That was how the arrangement worked. Fields did as he was told, didn't ask questions, and later on he would receive a deposit in his account comparable to the work he had done.

He opened the door to the overnight pin, and Gus walked in without a word. The massive rhino stomped over to a table at the back of the room and settled in. He seemed to fall asleep instantly, resting his head against the wall and folding his hands across his chest. But Fields could see his ears twitching. He was listening for something.

The other officers dispersed immediately, none of them saying a word to another. As Fields walked back down the hall to his office, he wondered if they were like him. Puppets dancing on Wilde's strings. Part of him wanted to confide in them. Ask them if they thought there was anything they could do to free themselves from all this. But he knew their answer already. Because it was the same one he would give them if the situation were reversed. What Wilde had on him, what Wilde could do to him, to his family, it wasn't worth the risk. Better to keep your head down, do as you're told, and get paid. Wilde was ruthless, but he never asked something for nothing.

As he arrived back at his desk, Fields' phone chimed. He pulled it out and checked the alert. His mouth went dry.

$100,000 just got deposited in his account.

Fields dropped his phone to the floor, sank into his chair, and waited for the inevitable.

...

Gus was happy. He liked working for Wilde. It had been a long time since he'd been given an assignment, but it was always fun working for the only fox that had ever been able to intimidate Gus.

The wolf was listening to another prisoner tell some clearly embellished story about why he had been thrown into lockup. Gus chuckled to himself. Idiots, the lot of them. But for now, Gus' job was to sit and listen. An odd job, this one.

Normally, Wilde had people who needed to be convinced to willingly stop being an obstacle. Gus spoke to these people, and explained why they should make this choice. Before it was taken from them.

But Gus remembered the old days. The days when Wilde had just started out. Things had truly been wild then. Gus chuckled at his pun. But the fox had been a demon possessed when Gus had met him. A monster, unafraid to remove his opponents with little or no warning, in whatever way he could. Gus had been hired to kill the fox. Wilde had convinced him not to. And so a beautiful partnership was born. Gus had been Wilde's 'hand in the dark' for several years.

But a mammal that dangerous makes too many enemies. The underbelly of Zootopia decided they would be better off taking whatever damage they would sustain in bringing him down, rather than allow him to continue his reign of terror. They had come close to succeeding.

But Wilde was smarter than all of them put together.

Ten years ago, Wilde orchestrated the complete dispersal of Mr. Big's entire criminal empire. Every single mammal employed by the shrew at any point in their lives received a generous severance package, along with instructions to never contact Big again, lest they experience heavy consequences.

Then, three years ago, the shrew and his minions returned, fully legitimized. Every criminal still in their employ turned themselves in, and any attempts to find illegal activity connected with the shrew resulted in utter failure.

Everyone in the city became terrified of Big. A mammal capable of accomplishing such a feat was even more dangerous than the old mob boss was.

But Gus knew the truth. Wilde was using Big as a front. He had the whole of Zootopia fooled, including the shrew. But the true power was the fox.

Gus' ear flicked as he heard the wolf speak up. He thought about the strangeness of Wilde's orders.

Gus was only supposed to listen for now.

The rhino grinned. For now.

 **A/N: Chapters 14.1 - 14.3 are separated for thematic purposes, but all occur simultaneously.**


	15. Chapter 14 - 2

Judy was walking down the street in an unfamiliar part of the city. She knew she was lost, but she wasn't actually worried about that.

No, what she was worried about was the fact that she was alone.

She was looking for someone, and couldn't find them anywhere.

She darted down the street, moving as fast as she could will herself to. For some reason her legs felt heavy, and she kept having to look down to make sure she was still moving.

But there was a scent in the air that told her she was close. The mammal she was looking for was nearby. She just had to keep moving.

She rounded a corner, and a massive paw shot out and wrapped around her throat.

An enormous wolf with sickly yellow eyes held her up off the ground, drool dripping from his feral grin. He laughed at her. He laughed at how weak she was. How she was unable to find the mammal she had been searching for. How she was about to die.

She struggled with everything she had, but she knew she couldn't get away. Still, she wasn't upset about dying. The only regret she had was that she hadn't found her friend. He was lost too. He was looking for her too. She was sure of it.

But as she fought against the wolf's iron grip, she saw someone lying on the ground behind him. They were loosely covered by a shredded suit, and there was blood pooling beneath them from a terrible gut wound, their beautiful orange fur stained a horrible red.

As the wolf opened its maw to drag Judy in, she screamed in sorrow and anger, "NICK!"

Judy bolted upright in the bed with a start, her heart beating so hard it hurt.

It took her a moment to remember where exactly she was. Once she did, she noticed she still had the same problem she had been having in her dream. Nick was gone.

She slid out of his bed and walked down the hall into the living room.

True to his word, Nick had left to sleep on the couch once Judy had fallen asleep, and was curled up with a blanket he had taken from the hall closet. She smiled warmly at him. She appreciated how far he was going to try and make her comfortable.

When he growled, Judy whipped around to search the room, thinking he might have smelled something. Seeing the empty room, she realized how ridiculous that would be. She turned back to look at Nick, and saw the pained expression on his face.

He must have been having a nightmare too.

Then he started whimpering.

It was such a pitiful sound. Like a child who suddenly found themselves abandoned.

Judy couldn't stand it. So she walked over and kneeled next to the couch, and gently began stroking his paw. At first, he flinched away from the contact, growling once again. But as she persisted, he gradually eased into the tender motion.

"Shhh, it's ok, Nick, I'm here." She whispered softly. "You're ok."

He suddenly looked so much calmer now. Almost like someone who had never had a decent night's sleep in their life.

Not wanting to wake him, she stroked his paw more and more slowly until she eased to a stop, and began to let go so she could go back to bed. Now that she had proven to herself he was ok, she felt confident she could go back to sleep.

But as she began to move her paw away, he reached out and grabbed it.

"Please," he begged, still asleep, "don't leave me."

Judy's heart broke from his tone. He sounded like he had nothing left in the world, and if she left him it might kill him. So she did the only thing she felt was sensible to do. She carefully crawled under the blanket and snuggled up against him. His arm coiled around her, holding her close. And as he sighed contentedly, she was delighted to feel his soft tail wrap around her once more.

Feeling quite cozy all wrapped up in fox, Judy found herself falling asleep as easily as she had before.

This time, her dreams were all peaceful.

 **A/N: Chapters 14.1 - 14.3 are separated for thematic purposes, but all occur simultaneously.**


	16. Chapter 14 - 3

Nick landed against the wall hard, his head striking painfully against the bricks. He reached one paw back to steady himself against the wall, and brought the other up to wipe the dripping blood away from his muzzle.

He was in a dead-end alley, trapped by another crowd of wildly twisting shadows. They had been chasing him through the streets again, when he'd suddenly realized he was having a nightmare. Knowing he was in a dream, he'd intended to let the monstrous figures overtake him and force the dream to end. Instead, the scene had shifted and he'd found himself being pummeled into the wall. He'd quickly gotten tired of that, and had begun trading blows with his ephemeral opponents.

He was losing pretty bad.

He didn't feel too torn up about that though. They were very clearly cheating. This was a nightmare after all.

Nick was no psychiatrist, but he was sure there was some poignant truth to be derived from a mammal having to literally fight his own subconscious in an effort to sleep peacefully. He was on the cusp of making some smart remark, when it died in his throat.

A wolf stepped out of the crowd, far more solid that any of the other figures. Nick immediately recognized him. But he couldn't fathom why. Or why the wolf's presence made him so angry and terrified.

There was blood oozing from the wolf's mouth, dripping steadily onto the ground. But he was clearly uninjured, so the blood couldn't be his. The wolf sneered, showing off his blood-stained teeth. And for the first time in any of Nick's endless nightmares, someone other than Nick spoke. Just three words.

"She was delicious."

The terror and rage Nick felt at those words wrenched his awareness away from him. He forgot where he was, that none of this was real. Even if he had remembered, it wouldn't have mattered. Nightmare or not, Nick was going to beat the shit out of that wolf.

Nick threw himself forward, slamming himself against the wolf, tearing at him with his claws, and clamping his jaw around the wolf's neck. But the wolf didn't budge. He didn't even flinch. He wrapped a single paw around Nick's neck, and sent him flying back into the wall once more.

Nick rose on shaky legs, steadying himself on the wall again. He felt like he was going to collapse, but he forced himself to stand, to face the wolf again. The wolf raised a paw to rip Nick apart. Nick closed his eyes. The wolf spoke one more time.

"Just like your mother."

Nick whimpered.

And then he felt a gentle touch on his paw. He flinched away, thinking the wolf was about to sling him around again. But the touch returned shortly, so tender and warm. And he smelled something familiar too. A soft earthy scent, just sweet enough to be tantalizing to his vulpine nose.

Judy. It was Judy.

He opened his eyes, and found himself still sitting in the alley. But there was no one else there anymore. No one else, except for Judy. He stared at her in wonder. How was she here? Why was she here? ...Did it really matter? He was so glad that she was safe. He had been so worried about her. Now that she was here with him, everything felt ok again.

She stopped stroking his paw, and let it go. She was going to leave. Nick moved before he thought, reaching out and snatching her paw in his.

"Please," he begged, sounding like a child, "don't leave me."

And she didn't. She stayed with him.

And for the rest of the night, Nick dreamt only of the bunny in his arms.

 **A/N: Chapters 14.1 - 14.3 are separated for thematic purposes, but all occur simultaneously.**

 **Hey guys! Wow, it's been a while. Much longer than I anticipated.**

 **But I have some bad news. Our methodologist went to the review board ahead of us, and deconstructed our entire experimental design, without us there to defend ourselves. When we went before the board to make our case, they wouldn't even let us present, as they had already made their decision.**

 **Their decision? Our experiment is fundamentally flawed, and cannot work in its current state. We have to redo the entire thing, from scratch.**

 **So yeah. I don't know how often I'll be able to update, but I'll try to keep you guys informed.**

 **Reviews always appreciated!**


	17. Chapter 15

Saturday 1:00 AM

The wolf had been running his mouth for around an hour now, trying to impress the other prisoners with his petty achievements. None of them were terribly impressed though. Gus was started to get bored with this. He considered allowing himself to genuinely fall asleep. But his patience was finally rewarded.

In a desperate attempt to seem impressive, the wolf began telling the others about the rabbit and fox he had mugged this evening, flaunting the fact he had nearly killed the both of them. Gus smirked when the wolf left out the part about the fox beating the tar out of him and the rabbit slamming him into the wall. In the wolf's version, the police showed up just in time to rescue the pair before the wolf could deliver the finishing blow.

This moment was what Gus had been waiting for all night. The instructions were clear. 'Only observe. Unless…'

"She was a tasty little morsel, too." The wolf said, licking his lips. "I think I'll track her down when I'm out. Show her what a real alpha male is capable of. Heh, I think I'll take her right in front of the fox. Then I'll finish what I started tonight."

"Just how do you expect to even find her in a city this big?" One of the others asked.

The wolf tapped his nose and smirked. "I've got her scent. It doesn't matter where she goes, I'll always be able to find her." He chuckled as he leaned back in his chair. "It's just a matter of time."

All conversation in the room suddenly died.

The wolf went rigid as a hand gripped his shoulder from behind. He hadn't heard or smelled anyone coming up behind him. But now he could clearly hear the heavy breathing of the rhino's breath, as though he were excited about something.

"You say you're certain you can find that bunny again?" Gus asked.

"Y-yes…" The wolf said, not turning around.

The rhino's grip tightened painfully.

"And you're definitely going to look for her once you're out?" Gus asked, more quietly this time.

"Of… Of course… Gotta, uh, get even…" The wolf stuttered.

Gus leaned down, bringing his mouth right next to the wolf's ear, and whispered, just loud enough for those at the table to hear.

"That rabbit is off limits. Nicholas Wilde sends his regards."

Everyone at the table immediately bolted, fleeing for one of the corners of the room. Except the wolf.

The rhino released his grip on the smaller mammal, waiting to see what he would do. The wolf began shaking with terror as he turned to face the larger mammal.

"Y-you mean, I-" he began.

"Yes." Gus answered, knowing what he was about to ask.

The wolf leapt out of his chair, and onto the rhino's chest, clinging to his clothes like his life depended on it. Gus didn't flinch. But he knew the wolf wasn't going to attack him. There were two ways this could end, and the wolf knew that. Either the wolf willingly took what was coming to him right now, or something much worse would happen later.

The wolf looked Gus in the eye, and pleaded, "Do it! Do it now! Please! I'm sorry, I didn't know, please! Help me! DO IT NOW!" He began screaming over and over, begging Gus to do his job.

The rhino obliged.

When he was done, he was escorted back to his cell in solitary confinement.

If the EMTs had been called at that moment, the wolf would surely have died on the way to the hospital. As it was, however, they had been standing right outside the door.

Gus chuckled to himself.

He didn't know if that would be a blessing to the poor fool, or a curse.

...

 **Saturday morning.**

Nick woke up slowly. His whole body seemed different. It was like he'd had weights strapped to each of his limbs, and they were suddenly all gone. He felt like he could run clear across the city without ever slowing down. He wanted to leap out of bed, and show the world just what he was made of! HE- was not in his bed?

Nick started to shift, about to sit up, but there was something on top of him. Something small, warm, and very very soft.

Nick's whole body tensed when he realized it was Judy, with her arms wrapped around his chest, quietly snoring.

 _This… could be problematic._

Nick took a deep breath to calm himself, and his nose was filled with her scent. Last night, she'd been wearing perfume, and they had only really been close when they had kissed-

 _Oh crap, I totally forgot that I kissed her._

-so her own, personal scent hadn't been too clear or powerful. Now, it was almost all he could smell.

It was amazing.

A gentle, sweet, earthy smell. A smell that made Nick think of a warm summer day. Reading under an old oak tree. Lemonade in the afternoons.

Family close by, his moth-

Nick's eyes snapped open. His jaw tensed up as he drew himself out of his stupor. He had work to do today.

For anyone else, having someone fall asleep on top of them might have meant they would have to wake the other person up before they could move. For Nick, that was not the case.

 _I've slipped away from lighter sleepers, in more compromising positions._

After a few moments, Nick was walking back toward his room, and Judy was still curled up on the couch, sound asleep.

As Nick brushed his teeth, he wondered for a moment why Judy had felt compelled to join him on the couch. Maybe she had been having bad dreams too….

The dreams…

Nick's paw stopped as he realized something. He couldn't remember his nightmares. He knew he had at least one last night. He remembered the fear. The anger and the pain of helplessness. But there were no images. It was like something had blotted them all out.

His brows shot up as he connected the dots. He had actually slept. That's why he felt the way he did.

A rare genuine smile lit up his foamy muzzle as he spat into the sink.

"I actually slept…" He whispered to his reflection.

What had he dreamed of again? What had taken the place of the nightmares? Try as he might, he found he could not summon any memory of it. He continued to ponder this as he prepared for work.

...

As Nick walked out into his den, Judy mumbled something in her sleep. Nick smiled, happy he hadn't woken her. She looked so cu-*ahem*- sweet when she was sleeping. She mumbled again, and Nick leaned in to try and catch it.

"Mmm… Nick, you're so warm. Cuddling with you is so… niiiiiice…"

Nick blushed.

He shook his head, dismissing the sudden urge to skip out on work today and cuddle with Judy.

Still, he suddenly felt like a cad, leaving Judy without a word. He couldn't afford to wake her up, because then she would ask questions, and something about lying to her didn't sit well with him. Once again, Nick suppressed a nagging voice in his head telling him all this was a bad idea. Odd how it sounded like Finnick.

Nick wrote Judy a quick note, and stuck it to her phone.

 _That'll have to do for now, I'm late as it is._

As he made to leave, he turned to watch her sleep a moment more.

He leaned in and gave her a light kiss on the forehead.

"See you later, Carrots." He whispered.

"Mmm, love you…" She hummed.

Nick chuckled.

Then his heart started thundering in his chest. He started to feel a little light-headed, and like the room was spinning.

 _What.. did she just say?_

Nick stiffly turned and forced his legs to carry him out the door. All the way to his car, he kept muttering under his breath.

"Just a dream, just a dream, just a dream, just a dream…."

...

Judy rolled over and looked up at the ceiling. It didn't look right. And she couldn't hear Bucky or Pronk arguing. Where-

Her train of thought was cut off as her phone buzzed. She picked it up and pulled a sticky note off of it to see a text from the chief:

'MY OFFICE. 9:00 AM. SHARP.'

Judy checked the time. 8:30. Crap. She leapt off the couch, and everything came flooding back. Including the fact that she was wearing Nick's t-shirt, and had no other clothes with her. She bit her lip as she started to panic. Nick was already gone, and according to his note, he wouldn't be back for several hours, at least.

She dropped her phone onto the coffee table, and collapsed on the couch with her head in her paws. Bogo was going to be furious with her.

...She belatedly realized that her phone never made a sound when it hit the coffee table. She looked up, to see that it had landed on a neatly folded stack of clothes. With another sticky note on them. She picked it up to read.

'By the way, Fluff, I had these delivered for you last night before I nodded off. I would've asked for your opinion on them, but you were out like a light. Hope you like 'em! - N'

"Nick, if you were still here, I'd kiss you again!" Judy cried in relief.

She held up the clothes. A short-sleeved green shirt, a pair of black leggings, and even a fresh set of undergarments.

 _Yet again, all in my size. I have got to make him explain that later._

Judy paused at that. 'Later.' When was later? He left without a word this morning. Granted, for work, but still… No, no, now was not the time for that. She had decided yesterday that she would trust Nick until he gave her a reason not to, and going to work was not a reason. She had her own things to take care of anyway. When they both were free, they could discuss 'later' together.

Judy changed quickly and headed out the door. She was delighted to see that Nick had left a valet waiting for her, ready to drive her wherever she needed to go.

As they sped for Precinct 1, Judy couldn't help but wonder. What did the chief need her for this early on her off day?

...

 **A/N:**

 **Copy pasted, for those of you who don't read my other story:**

 **[** **Hoo boy, it's been a while, hasn't it?**

 **Man, I'm really sorry I haven't been updating for so long, but things have just gotten worse and worse.**

 **However, there is a light at the end of the tunnel. See, we're so far behind at this point, that we've had to ask for a time extension on designing our experiment. Which they cannot give us. What they Can give us though, is a leave of absence for 'personal' reasons. So we decided to apply for that one for the maximum 90 day length.**

 **Then, they told us we shouldn't do that. Why? Because the college is about to go through some major faculty changes, and we might even up losing both our chair and our methodologist if we're out for too long.**

 **So we waited until this past Friday (the deadline we had to submit our application for leave), we came in at 4:30, and sat there in the office waiting room for 29 minutes, so we could submit our leave application for the full 90 days at the last possible moment.**

 **They looked at us like we were crazy.**

 **Anyway, all that to say: Maybe this will all actually get done, and I can start writing regularly again.**

 **I have no idea, but I'll keep you guys updated either way.**

 **Oh, also, no, I'm not dead, and neither are my stories.]**

 **Anyway, here's an update I hammered out for NRA. Not sure if my grammar holds up. I didn't have a lot of time to proof read. But hey, at least I finally flippin updated. Let's hope it won't be as long for Ch16.**


	18. Chapter 16

Dawn Bellwether was smarter than anyone gave her credit for.

Everyone expected sheep to be idiotic cowards, but Bellwether knew she was, with very few exceptions, always the smartest mammal in the room. In rooms full of mammals 4 times her size or more, she felt perfectly in control.

She knew precisely how to play to the role that everyone expected of her. She acted the part of the ditzy secretary, always disheveled and in a near panic. Forgetful, polite, sincere. Small, unimportant, forgettable.

But in truth, ruthless.

3 months ago, she had masterminded a plot that would have made her the most powerful mammal in Zootopia. By modifying a little known plant, nicknamed 'nighthowlers,' she had prepared to make it seem as though predators across the city were beginning to revert to their primeval savage natures, lashing out at anyone and anything in their path. She had figured she could even get a few of them to maul some innocent prey if she timed it right.

Once the city had been thrown into disarray, she would present an invention she'd come up with almost a year ago as a 'temporary solution.' Shock collars. Restraining devices that would prevent predators from any and all extreme forms of emotion. Thereby neutering any real opposition she would face in the months to come.

Once the preds had been contained, she would convince the witless prey in the city that she was the only one who could be trusted with power. She would do away with the city council, it was mostly preds right now so that would have been easy, and make a show of taking more and more power regretfully as she tried in vain to control the escalating situation.

Eventually, she would inform the public of more occurrences of preds going savage in nearby cities and towns, all orchestrated by her of course, and the epidemic would spread. As her shock collars became more and more necessary, for the protection of innocent mammals everywhere, she would introduce the need for segregation. Clearly, if these preds cannot control their instincts on a day-to-day basis, they need to be kept separate from general society. All for the greater good of course.

Once the preds were corralled, and Bellwether had all the power she could manage to accrue, she would just ride it out from there. And if she ever got bored, or someone challenged her authority, well, no one but Bellwether herself knew everything the collars were capable of. People pay so much for private armies these days. Much better to just enslave them outright.

However, all her careful planning had been ruined.

Dawn turned to look at the fox sitting across from her in the limo.

In a room filled with mammals more than 4 times her size, she felt no fear.

But when he turned to look at her, his eyes made ice run through her veins.

...

As Judy walked through the doors of her precinct, she was greeted by a familiar squeal.

"O. M. Goodness! Judy!" Judy chuckled to herself as Clawhauser frantically waved her over to his desk. As she arrived, he leaned down next to her and whispered, "Judy, are you dating a fox?"

Judy went rigid.

...

As they walked through the underground facility, Bellwether could hardly restrain the feeling of panic in her stomach. As the deputy mayor, she had access to any and all building plans across the city, even of buildings that were classified. And in her time in office, she had even mapped unregistered rooms and bunkers across the city, leaving no secrets anywhere that she didn't have access to… or so she had thought.

The facility Wilde was leading her through had never crossed her desk before. And the sheer size of the place should have made it easy to find. How had he managed to keep this place a secret all this time? As she asked herself that question, she slowly returned her gaze to the fox's back, suddenly recalling several accidents that had occurred to some of her scouts. Granted, mapping areas where no one wanted any prying eyes was dangerous work, but… No, she remembered the scouting party that specifically handled this section of the city had seen an unusual number of casualties. Too many mammals had died for it to be gang violence, and she didn't hire anyone stupid enough to blunder into dangerous situations. The team leader had told her it had been a gas explosion at a warehouse where they had began one night. The explosion had been covered on the news, so she had left it at that. But now, she remembered how most of the stubborn mammals in that team had been the ones who didn't survive their injuries. The rest had always appeared haunted, scared of what could be around the corner at any time. She wondered if it was someone specific they were afraid of.

Wilde turned to face her, and she flinched involuntarily.

He chuckled.

"Not to worry, ma'am, we know what we're doing here." He said, swiping a card to open an elevator.

"I'm sure you do." She responded, frustrated at how shaky her voice was.

As they stepped into the elevator, she saw rows of buttons, leading to more floors than this place should have had.

 _Just how deep does all this go?_

 _..._

As Judy walked towards Chief Bogo's office, she fought to keep her composure. Apparently, it had become a well-circulated rumor that she had recently started dating a fox. No one knew his name, or where the two had met, but Clawhauser had shown her a picture someone had taken of she and Nick kissing last night. And as she had walked through the precinct, her hearing had picked up more than one whispered conversation about her and her mystery fox.

Her fists tightened painfully as she thought about what she would have to say to whoever the blabber mouth was.

Arriving at Bogo's door, she took a few moments to compose herself. Once she felt a bit more steady, she knocked.

"Come." Came the gruff reply.

As Judy stepped in, she noticed that Fangmeyer was there as well. Raising an eyebrow she turned to look at the chief. He caught the question in her eyes, and sighed as he motioned her in. She walked over and sat in one of the large chairs in front of his desk.

"Chief? What did you need to see me about? I thought I was still on administrative leave?" She gasped, excitement suddenly filling her. "Did it already get resolved? Can I go back on duty now? I-"

Bogo waved a hoof to cut her off.

"No, Hopps, you are not being returned to active duty yet."

Judy's ears drooped.

"Oh. Well, then what did you need to call me in for?"

Bogo sighed again as he pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Because officer Fangmeyer refuses to tell me what's so bloody important without you here."

Both Judy and Bogo turned to look at the tiger. Fangmeyer cleared her throat, a serious look on her face.

"Officer Hopps," Fangmeyer began, "could you tell us the name of the fox you were with last night?"

Judy was caught off guard by the question, and so she missed the way the Chief's eyes narrowed before she answered.

"Um, his name is Nick Wilde, he-"

"And could you tell the chief why we ran into you last night?"

Judy was once again unbalanced by the question, but she had come to trust Fangmeyer in the 3 months they had known each other, so Judy assumed there must be a point to all of this. However, both of the other mammals in the room failed to notice the chiefs hoofs tighten.

Judy turned to look at the chief, his sour expression seeming slightly more so than usual, but she continued on anyway.

"Nick and I were attacked by a wolf who tried to mug us. He was clearly drugged." Judy's paw drifted to her throat. "He would have killed me if not for Nick."

Fangmeyer raised an eyebrow at that. "Yes. Perhaps." She turned to face the chief as well. "That wolf was taken to the midtown overnight jail last night, pending trial." She waited a beat. "Now he's been taken to the Intensive Care Unit."

Judy's eyebrows shot up. "What, why?"

Fangmeyer turned to face her. "Because he was beaten within an inch of his life."

"By who?"

The tiger turned back to face the chief. "...No one will say."

There was a pause as Judy looked down at the floor, Fangmeyer kept her gaze levelled at the chief, and Bogo glared back at Fangmeyer.

Then Judy looked back up and asked, "So what does this have to do with me?"

Fangmeyer didn't turn away from the chief as she responded, "That facility is where a known criminal enforcer is incarcerated. The wounds match his standard M.O. The reason no one is talking is because they fear the consequences of ratting him out." Now the tiger turned to face Judy. "He's connected to Wilde." The words hit Judy like a physical blow, but Fangmeyer kept going. "And Wilde's sudden interest in you is extremely suspicious. He doesn't have friends, he doesn't go out for drinks with work buddies, he just vanishes at the end of every day. Last night I asked Clawhauser how the two of you met, but he wouldn't even believe me without proof. Knowing that you tell Clawhauser almost everything, that means either you just met Wilde, or he's convinced you to actively conceal your relationship with him. I need to know which it is."

Fangmeyer looked at her expectantly, but Judy was reeling. Her superior, someone who she had come to trust deeply, was telling her that Nick had supposedly had someone beaten? How could that have happened? When would he have even had the time? Was he capable of something like that? These were all questions spinning through her mind. But she found that the most immediately pressing issue was-

"You're the one who started that rumor!?" Judy demanded. "Everyone has apparently been talking about my stupid mystery fox boyfriend all morning! Clawhauser told me there was a picture of us kissing! You showed him that!? Did you take a picture of us!?"

Fangmeyer seemed surprised by Judy's reaction.

"I needed information, this is the first solid lead we've had on Wilde in-"

"ENOUGH!" Bogo's shout silenced both of them.

"Officer Hopps, I apologize for this. Had I known that Fangmeyer was hiding the reason for this meeting from me because **she knew I would refuse** ," he said, fixing a baleful glare on the tiger, "then I would have done just that. You are free to go."

"But chief-" Both the tiger and bunny began.

" **Dismissed.** "

All arguments died there.

Judy let herself down off the chair, her mind still racing. As she walked out into the hall, she her the chief growl, "Not you, Fangmeyer."

And then the door closed behind her.

Judy considered trying to eavesdrop on the conversation, but knew there would be no way to do so without being seen. And given the chief's current mood, if he found out about it, she would only create trouble for herself.

As she walked back into the main lobby, she went past Clawhauser's desk. She didn't notice the chubby cheetah trot out from behind his post until he had wrapped her in a tight hug.

"Oh Judy, I'm so so so so sosososososososososososo sorry! I didn't know that nobody was supposed to know! I was just so excited for you! And it was so daring, and I thought maybe you were trying to make a statement, and I wanted to know if he was treating you right, and, and, and-"

"Ben! Ben, it's ok, I know you weren't trying to be mean." Judy said, gently patting the cheetah's shoulder with the arm he wasn't pinning down.

Clawhauser began to sniffle as he released her. "Oh, you're so sweet Judy, forgiving a blabbermouth like me so easily. I just feel so bad…"

A lightbulb went off in Judy's mind. "Tell you what, Ben. How about you do me a favor, and then we'll call it even?"

"Ooh, really? Yes, please! Anything!"

"Can you tell me why officer Fangmeyer doesn't like Nick Wilde?"

Clawhauser opened his mouth to respond, but the sudden bellowing that could be heard from the chief's office silenced everyone and everything in the precinct.

 **A/N: Heyo, I'm still not dead, so here's another chapter.**

 **Things are still rough, but I'm getting by.**

 **There should be a new chapter to TKatT soonish.**

 **Reviews always appreciated!**


	19. Chapter 17

*A short time ago, right after Judy walked out of Bogo's office*

The office was almost completely silent. The only sound that could be heard was Bogo's breath as it gusted through his nostrils. Even this though, seem muted somehow. It was as though Bogo's anger was so great that it had a physical presence, permeating the room, dampening all sound within.

Neither of the mammals spoke for a few minutes.

Bogo sat, fingers laced in front of himself, seething.

Fangmeyer stared at the chief, revealing nothing of what might be going through her head at that moment.

After an extended and painful silence, Fangmeyer decided to speak.

"Chief, we finally have a connection, we can use her to-"

" **THAT IS ENOUGH!** " Bogo's voice was so loud that it actually caused the room to shake, going on to echo throughout the precinct. In the same moment, he stood up so quickly from his chair that it was thrown back and toppled to the floor.

"Do you think I don't know what you're after here, Fangmeyer?" Bogo asked, glaring daggers at the her. "Do you honestly think I'm so very **stupid** , that I cannot see the point of this?"

He walked around his desk to stand in front of the tigress. Fangmeyer's calm facade finally cracked here, as the enormous buffalo towered over her in his anger. As he began speaking again, he leaned in, his voice low and dangerous.

"Your history with Wilde is just that, **history**! I don't care that you're certain he was behind Big. I don't care that you think he had something to do with eight-year-old cold cases. I don't care that you think you can bring him down. You've brought all of this to me more than a dozen times, and nothing ever sticks!"

He turned around to pick up his chair and set it back behind his desk, then moved to stand in front of the window.

Fangmeyer had backed against the wall, and slowly regained some of her composure now. Bogo was standing with his hooves behind his back, staring out the window in silence.

Fangmeyer chose to press the issue.

"Chief, I know he's managed to slip past us before, but with Hopps' help, we can-"

Bogo wheeled on her, and the tigress realized she had pressed too far.

"Help? **Help?** You expect me to believe you see Hopps as a potential ally in this?" He jabbed a finger at her. "She's a pawn to you! Something you think you can sacrifice in order to finally bring Wilde into a courtroom! And do you know what will happen then? NOTHING! He'll walk out of there free as a bird, BECAUSE THERE IS NO EVIDENCE THAT HE HAS EVER DONE ANYTHING!"

Fangmeyer opened her mouth to speak. Bogo cut her off.

"And all the while, you would be happy to sacrifice her career, perhaps her very life, if it meant that you could have just one more shot at Wilde!" Bogo leaned his hooves against his desk, seeming terribly weary all of a sudden. "I will not have this conversation again, Fangemeyer. This is the last time you will ever speak to me about Nick Wilde. You will not investigate him, you will not use any police resources to engage or interact with him in any way. If I find that you have so much as written his name on a napkin while you're on the clock or in my precinct, I will have your badge." As he said this, he looked up at the tigress once more. The look in his eyes was at the same time immovably hard and pleading. "Do not make me dismiss you."

The two mammals stood there for a time. Simply waiting. Finally, Fangmeyer spoke.

"I will not bring this to you again, sir."

Bogo straightened, relaxing somewhat. Fangmeyer stepped forward, removed her badge, and set it on Bogo's desk.

"I appreciate everything that you've done for me, sir. Goodbye."

With that, the tigress walked out of Bogo's office. As the door closed behind her, Bogo slumped in his chair, staring at the badge. As his phone began to ring, he rubbed the space between his eyes in frustration. Sighing, he placed the badge in a drawer, and resignedly answered his phone.

...

As Judy recovered from the thunderous noise that had come from the second floor, she realized that she had pressed herself against the reception counter, ducking behind it for cover. Whatever had happened, it must have been something serious.

"Ben? Ben, what was that?" Judy asked, standing back up.

When she didn't get a response, she turned to face the counter, and saw that the cheetah was not sitting in his chair. She easily hopped up onto the counter, and found Clawhauser curled up in a little ball behind his desk. When he looked at her, his eyes were wild with fear.

"Ben? Are you okay?"

The cheetah simply shook his head, neither standing up nor saying anything.

"That was the chief wasn't it? Why are you so scared?" Judy looked around the precinct, and saw that many other officers were having similar reactions. All throughout the building, the parts of it she could see anyway, mammals were scurrying in any direction that led away from the chief's office. Some even dove for cover or outright hid like Clawhauser was doing. As she looked closer though, she could see several officers and staff who were simply confused. They didn't look unaffected, but they clearly were not as agitated as everyone else was.

It struck her suddenly, that all the fleeing mammals were senior staff. And she and all the others that looked befuddled, were officers that had only started working here recently.

She looked back down at her friend, and saw that he was clutching his tail as though it were a safety line.

He had begun shivering slightly.

"Ben." Judy said sternly. The cheetah looked at her. "Tell me what's going on here. Why are all the senior staff freaking out right now?"

Clawhauser hesitated, but just as he was about to speak, Judy saw Fangmeyer coming down the stairs.

"Hold that thought, Ben." Judy said, jumping down from the counter. She sprinted over to the tigress, a dozen questions bouncing around in her head. But as she came close, Fangmeyer held out a paw to forestall her.

"I don't have any answers for you, Hopps. And even if I did, I wouldn't give them to you. I don't know what your relationship is with Wilde, but I'll tell you this much. I'm going to bring him down, no matter the cost. Make sure your standing clear when I do."

With that, the tigress stormed out of the precinct. Judy had only more questions now. And her breath caught as she belatedly realized that Fangmeyer had no longer been wearing her badge.

She walked slowly back to the reception desk, replaying events in her mind, trying to piece together anything that might explain why it seemed that everyone she knew was starting to go crazy. She jumped and almost let out a yelp when a paw settled on her shoulder.

Clawhauser shushed her as he held a finger to his mouth. Looking around as though he expected danger around any corner, he leaned in to whisper to Judy.

"You need to leave, right now."

"What? Ben, you haven't told me anything yet! I-"

He waved his paws for her to lower her voice and said, "I know, I know, and I'm sorry, I promise I'll answer any of your questions that I can later. But not here, and not right now." With that, he placed a paw behind her back and began pushing her towards the door. Judy tried to resist, and was surprised to discover that the cheetah was much stronger than he appeared. As they reached the door, Clawhauser opened it and gently but firmly pushed her through.

She spun around before the door had closed, and caught him by the sleeve. "Ben, please, just explain why everyone is so scared right now."

Clawhauser fidgeted for a moment, looking very much like a child who knew they were about to be punished, but could see no way to avoid it.

"I-" he began.

"CLAWHAUSER!" The chief's sudden below echoed once more through the precinct, sending a new wave of mammals scurrying about. Clawhauser nearly leapt out of his uniform when he heard it, and his eyes became terrified once more. "I'm sorry, Judy! Later!" And with that, he pushed the door closed and practically sprinted towards the stairs to the second floor. Judy was surprised he could even move that fast.

Exasperated, Judy began walking down the steps and out onto the sidewalk, her gaze lowered in frustration and thought. She had been denied an explanation by everyone she had asked up to this point.

She looked up, her expression becoming resolute.

There was still one other person she could demand answers from.

...

As they walked past what appeared to be numerous testing labs, Dawn was becoming more and more agitated. Wilde wasn't the type to tip his hand until he was ready, no matter what cards he was holding. For him to show her all of this… She could only imagine what was coming. And she desperately wanted to be anywhere but here right now. She wished she had never come up with that stupid plot. She wished she had quit her job and left the city rather than give in to Wilde's demands. She wished she had never agreed to come here.

"Here we are." Wilde said, stopping before what appeared to be a cell door.

"Wh-what is this, Wilde?" Bellwether stammered.

"This? Why, it's a testing room. You think you were the first person to notice the effects of nighthowlers? Please, we've been researching them for years."

The sheep's mouth opened slightly, but she found that she couldn't say anything. He had been studying nighthowlers? He had already known? She had only heard of them herself just a few months ago. He had known for years?

"Your little plan was cute, but it was terribly blunt." Wilde said, as one of his polar bears bodyguards opened the door. Inside was a pristine white room, devoid of any furniture or decoration, and padded entirely. "We've been looking for more, how should I put this… Ah, useful applications of nighthowler effects.

She turned to look at him. "Useful? What do you mean? And whose room is this? Why are we here, Wilde!" The sheep was becoming frantic. None of this made any sense. She was genuinely scared now.

"Everything will become clear in time. As for whose room this is…" He turned to face her as well. "Why, it's yours."

With that, two of his bodyguards grabbed her by the arms and lifted her off the ground as they carried her into the padded cell. She frantically struggled against them, but there was simply nothing she could do. As they held her still against the back wall, an otter scientist came through the door. He was carrying a syringe.

"What is that!? What are you going to do to me!? You can't do this!" She wailed.

"As I said," Wilde grinned, "more useful applications.

Bellwether's screams echoed through the halls, before abruptly cutting off.

...

 **A/N**

 **Wow. Ok. That took forever.**

 **Alright, so, long story short: Just about everything that could have gone wrong, did.**

 **I won't get into the details, because frankly I don't want to. The last several months have been pretty rough. But! They are now over, and I am finally moving on from them!**

 **Does that mean I'll start posting more often again? I have no idea!**

 **But I'll promise you this. I have no intention of abandoning my stories. It may take a while, but I will finish them.**

 **Anyhoo, questions, comments, reviews, and whatever else you want to say are always welcome!**


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